Forgotten Memories
by CrimsonDayDream
Summary: Unable to do anything, Sanji Black-leg drowns to his death, he is saved just as his heart stops...but for a price; his memories. "...if you can over come your lack of memories and remember your regrets and fulfil 'that' one...I will return them to you." Can he do as he's told to get his memories back? Or will he forever lose them?
1. Tears for a friend

**Disclaimer: I don't own One Piece or any of the characters.**

**Warning: Rushness; Grammar; OOCness; Yaoi; Lemon; swearing; repetitiveness (I'm a repetitive person) and anything you notice that isn't on this list but is on this list.**

**Hello Everyone, this is a new Zosan story! I know I'm working on two others: 'Beautiful encounter' and 'Fallen in Love with you', I have some draft chapters written for them, but I keep re-reading and changing it so it's taking longer than usual and plus i'm doing Uni work as well, so enjoy this instead to pass the time? :L**

**Sticking with M as a rating for now, probably for upcoming chapters and swears.  
Word count: 1,819**

**Chapter one: Tears for a friend**

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"Sanji-kun!"  
"Sanji!"  
"Cook!"

The calls of his nakama rang in his ears as he plummeted head first into the water, creating a large splash upon impact. He knew he had been careless and he couldn't help but curse himself for it, he should have known better, even if he had been distracted for just a moment, but that moment had been enough for his enemy to strike at him continuously with his powerful hits. His fast movements had left him no room to counter attack, and now he had to face the consequences.  
What had been that distraction you ask? You might think that Sanji might have had a moment of insanity, but he swears on his life that he had seen the reflection of a woman in the ripples of the water, drowning, calling for help; calling for his help.

He drifted comfortably in the water, having finally slowed down with the help from the resistance of the water and now he was enjoying the blueness around him, it was truly beautiful but he began to realise that he really should swim back to the surface and continue the fight with that little shit.

The fight had been a sudden -literally out of nowhere- ambush on them by another group of -stupid- pirates, just as they had arrived at that dock to go into the village for supplies.  
He mentally sighed, could they never catch a break? Maybe this wouldn't have happened if their captain hadn't decided to stuff his face full with all their food supplies.  
He went to move his arms so he could swim up...  
...yet...  
why?...  
...Why wouldn't his body respond to him!? No matter how much he willed his body to move, it just wouldn't respond. He could feel his heart race, thumping rapidly against his chest.  
His mind flashed back to his enemy, the words he had said, promising that he would hit all his pressure points and paralyse him before sending him to his death. Had that not been just a mere threat? But then what other reason could there be for him to be motionless in the great blue ocean...?

He growled lowly in the back of his throat.  
He didn't want to die, he couldn't! Not now, not at this moment!  
He didn't want to die with regrets!

He could feel the darkness seep into the corner of his eyes, it was surrounding him, engulfing him. He couldn't breath, his chest was tightening in pain; it hurt.  
Was this really going to be, the end of Black-leg Sanji?  
Why was no one coming to save him? Nami? Ussop? Franky? Even the shitty marimo would be fantastic right now.

His chest was heaving, wanting, no demanding his mouth to open; he needed air!  
He struggled with himself, but in the end Sanji's mouth coughed open, choking on the water, letting it into his lungs; he slowly began to lose consciousness...

_'...I didn't find my all blue...I won't be able to go back to the Baratie...I want to see them, face to face, once more...everyone...'_

His eyes closed gently. Mentally crying his last thoughts.

_'Most of all...I didn't tell him how I really feel...shitty...ma...ri...mo'_

His thoughts trailed off as his body continued to sink at a steady pace; down to the darkness of the ocean, his heart beat slowly halted to a stop and the last few air bubbles seeped out of his mouth. Fish swam around him, too scared to get even an inch close to the strange creature that had and was still disrupting their home.

In the distance, in the darkness, eyes gleamed in the distance, watching the unmoving body of Sanji's lifeless body. Hands slowly reached out to him, brushing against his cheek.

—

On the thousand sunny, the fight continued and was starting to stretch out as everyone had their minds filled with thoughts for the safety of their cook who had yet to resurface.  
Had he swam elsewhere? Was he going to do what he always did, and defeat the enemy another way?  
Just like all those other times when he had ran off on his own, was he doing that?  
Right now, all they could do, was prey, and yet, no ones minds would settle as the seconds ticked by.  
Ever.  
So.  
Fucking.  
.

"Fuck this!" Zoro shouted loudly, he spun around slicing the air, letting the enemies fall one by one. He couldn't be pissing around with these bastards, whilst that bastard was somewhere in the fucking ocean like a fucking fish. He sheathed his swords and ran towards the edge preparing himself to dive off, but alas, Sanji's previous enemy wouldn't let Zoro do that. He kicked him back, painfully hard in the chest, laughing a sinister laugh.

"He's dead! Dead! Dead! Dead! Kekeke, I para...paralyzed him, hu hu hu!" He giggled, spinning around on the railing. He twiddled his fingers and he hopped around.  
"S'nathing you can do! " He continued to giggle, staring at Zoro with his wide deep black eyes, his smile stretched ear to ear as he danced around on his hands.

Zoro grimaced, his hands tightened around the hilt of his swords.  
This guy honestly creeped him out - another on the list of creepy ass enemies - but if he wasn't going to move out of his way, he was going to slice him down instead, he slowly wrapped his hands around the hilt of his swords but as he was getting ready to attack, Luffy screamed in anger at the mans words, disrupting the both of the them.  
"Shut up! Sanji will not die!" Luffy's glared, throwing another body out of his way.

Zoro agreed with Luffy, he shouted angrily as well.  
"As if the cook would let a stupid thing like that happen to him! Luffy!"  
Luffy didn't have to be told twice, "Gomu gomu gatling gun!" He got rid of half the distractions, especially the bastard that had blocked Zoro from his rescue attempt.  
Zoro smirked as he dived head first into the cold water; he knew Sanji wouldn't die, the shitty cook was stronger than that...yet why was he feeling doubtful?

_'Fucking cook!' _Zoro swore in his mind as he dived deeper, leaving everything in the other's capable hands. The salty water burned his eyes as he swam, he couldn't see anything; it was blue and blurry. _  
'Golden hair...Just a glimpse...Come on!' _He looked around frantically, begging just to see the blonde mop of hair, but no matter how much he begged, he couldn't see it at all.

He swam up to the surface, taking a deep breath before immediately diving back down. No way was he giving up, not yet, he would attempt to go past his limits and dive deeper. His lungs could, no it would, handle the pressure changes, they were going to have to handle it, the cook's life depended on it.

It felt like hours whilst Zoro was underwater, but the only thing the rest of the crew do, was wait for him, wait for him to bring Sanji up. But why was it taking so long for him to save Sanji?

Zoro resurfaced, his eyes meeting with the eyes of everyone else, he looked into their hopeful faces, their expressions slowly fading to see him empty handed, but no one said anything, they hoped beyond hope that something was fine.

Zoro didn't know what to say to them, so he murmured what he thought should be acceptable for this moment.  
He gulped, and breathed deeply before the words were uttered. "I'm sorry..."  
He looked away from them, from the ship...he couldn't bare to see their soon to be crestfallen faces. Those words was all it took, they all knew it but they didn't want to admit it that was until Zoro had to apologise. Apologising that he couldn't find Sanji, not even able to bring back his dead body for a good and proper burial. Was Sanji going to be able to rest in peace, floating somewhere in the vast sea?

"Oh god!" Nami gasped as she clasped her hands to her mouth, so shocked to think that Sanji was well and truly gone, imagining him floating alone and cold before he died. Robin didn't say anything, she just widened her eyes at the swordsman, before looking out to the sea. He was out there, somewhere?

"No way..." Ussop whispered, holding Chopper close to him as the little reindeer began to sob.  
"Sanji died alone! He must hate us!" Chopper cried, "We didn't save him! He must have been scared!" Chopper's words slowly become inaudible from his cries.

Franky covered his eyes as he began to cry, just as much as Chopper as he heard his words. The reindeer was right, the blonde must have been scared, floating alone in a cold and dark place, had they practically let him die?  
Brook was staring down to the deck floors, not wanting to say anything, he had watched his previous crew all die and now here he was, in a new crew having to witness the very first death...

Luffy's eyes was shaking, in anger, in sadness as he stared at his crying crew.  
"No way!" He shouted at them all, angry that they were saying things like that. "Just because we couldn't find him doesn't mean he's dead, right!? This is a good sign! Sanji is still alive!"  
His fists was shaking beside him as he clenched them tightly, his nails digging into the palm of his hand.  
"Don't...Don't write Sanji off just like that!"  
He was their cook, their friend, he was powerful and strong and the best swimmer they knew, he had a high chance of survival yet why was no one believing in him?

They all stood quietly, holding back any more sobs and cries, the only sound was of the gentle splashes of the water against the ship, so calm and soothing, yet it didn't sooth the tears that fell once more.  
Minutes had tick by and yet, nothing changed.

Luffy felt so pathetic, what kind of captain was he when he couldn't protect Sanji, his nakama? He tipped his straw hat down to cover his tears that slowly slid down his face. How could he be the king of pirates like this? How could he face Shanks again one day, when he couldn't protect his crew from moments like this?

Zoro glanced at them all, watching them all mourn in silence, noticing that Luffy had finally accepted the fact that their cook wasn't coming back.  
He didn't say anything else, nothing could be said, nothing could fill the air and fill the gap the cook had now left behind.

Zoro didn't cry. He wouldn't cry.  
He slowly climbed back on to the deck of the ship, quietly as he could, not wanting to disturb the others in their mourning. His boots tapped gently on the wood, the water pooling around him, he leaned against the side and slowly slid down into a crouching position.  
He was tired, physically and mentally, maybe he was beyond exhaustion.

So, the cook was really gone...finally, he had longed for the day Sanji would get off the ship, taking his shitty attitude with him. He had hated him ever since they had met at the Baratie, witnessing his arrogant attitude for the very first time. His prissy looks, his perverted attitude, his curly eyebrow and their fights, their arguments, their talks and insults. He hated it all to the very core of his soul and now, he wouldn't have to deal with that asshole and his smokes, he wouldn't have to enter the kitchen to only be kicked out.

Never again would he have to look at him, watch him twirl around the ship, to feel his kicks... to see him cooking...He could never call him again, to utter his name, to whisper it...  
He covered his eyes, a few tears slid down his tanned face. To cry was a sign of weakness...and yet he was crying for the cook...  
Images and memories flooding his mind as he thought about him.

He'd never get to walk into the kitchen again and see the blonde happily cooking away, lost in his thoughts as he hummed a beautiful melody, he'd never get woken up rudely by him and get into those arguments he hated so much, he'd never get to tease him...or eat his cooking...or help him shopping again...or...or...tell him how much he really did love his food...how much he really valued their friendship...he really didn't hate him. In fact, he enjoyed their fights, he enjoyed the mans company...

Now it was all gone...in just a blink of an eye...they had taken the presence of the cook for granted...

* * *

**A few chapters are already written. So I'll post at least one a day until I run out of chapters.**


	2. For A Price

**Disclaimer: I don't own One Piece or any of the characters.**

**Warning: Rushness; Grammar; OOCness; Yaoi; Lemon; swearing; repetitiveness (I'm a repetitive person) and anything you notice that isn't on this list but is on this list.**

**Thank you to everyone who is following this story and has favourited it. :)**

**Word count: ****2,471**

**Chapter 2: For A Price**

* * *

'…_It's cold and dark…I'm scared…'_

Sanji felt a sharp jolt of pain shoot through him as his heart was forcefully restarted. He shivered violently, feeling the warm liquid of his blood circulating in his body once more. His arms flew to his neck as he gasped for breath. He looked around himself frantically, noticing he was still underwater...but he was able to breath now? That shouldn't be possible, no, what shouldn't be possible was him being alive right now, he was certain he had died...

"Don't be afraid..." Spoke a gentle soothing voice, his ears piqued, it was a female, he calmed himself, hoping to hear from the voice again.  
"Did you save me?" He asked the bodiless voice, wondering if there was a gorgeous body along with the gorgeous voice, he could imagine what the woman would look like. Curvy and soft, a large chest with long flowing figure of a woman slowly appeared at front of him. He could feel a nose bleed coming on from the thought, his imagination was powerful.

As his thoughts ran, the woman appeared, it had been the same woman he had seen in the ripples of the water during the fight and she was indeed as beautiful as her voice; she had long black hair that danced around her slim figure, her plumb red lips smiled at Sanji, taking in his sudden expression change; his eyes turned into hearts, oh how wonderful it was to be saved by such a beauty as herself! A woman of her beauty shouldn't have bothered with his dead body and yet she had. Maybe it was love?!

"Yes I did," She answered, her eyes began to smile a hollow smile "At a price..."  
Sanji continued to ogle at her, "What is your price?" He sang,  
"Oh, I'll do anything for you pretty-chan! I was born to serve a lady like you! Even to the darkest depths of hell I shall follow you my princess! I shall give you my heart if that is what you wish!"  
She smiled softly at him, his words flattering her but she continued none the less not letting herself get distracted by his actions.  
"Your memories."  
Sanji's eyes widened, his previous actions immediately coming to a halt. He hadn't expected that would be the price, why his memories? He frowned, it really wasn't something he could give to her, no matter how grateful or beautiful she was.  
He continued to smile at her politely. "I don't think that's possible, how about a dinner and a sweet night with me?"  
The woman laughed at his small attempts to change her mind, but it's wasn't going to happen, it had to be his memories.

"There's an exception," Her smile grew wider "As you died, you had regrets...if you can over come your lack of memories and remember your regrets and fulfill _that _one...I will return them to you."  
"Wait!"  
No way, his memories is what made him 'him'! She couldn't take that away, it was precious, it was his life, why should he live in a body without memories? It would be like having an empty shell!  
She appeared by him, and Sanji panicked, he knew he couldn't get away and he knew she was taking his memories without his choice at all.  
"What is _that _one?!" Sanji shouted.

"Even if I answer, you won't remember." She tapped her fingers roughly on his forehead, knocking him unconscious.  
She understood that Sanji didn't want to agree to it, no one really would, but she wasn't giving him a choice, it had to be done seeing as she had already saved him. She waved her hand and sent a small current to carry him up to the surface and to the ship he had came from. She wished him the best of luck.

A gust of wind flew past everyone, dancing around them as they cried for their loss. The wind spun around Luffy, blowing his hat off of his head. He reached up for it, but it was fast and already out of his reach. It slowly drifted downwards until it settled on the water, floating with the gentle waves by the ship.

He stared at his hat, sadly gazing at it and still thinking of Shanks. What would Shanks say to him if he knew he hadn't been able to protect his friend? He really couldn't face him.  
His eyes widened as a figure slowly floated up, pushing his hat slightly as they finally surfaced. What greeted him was a sight he thought he would never see again.

"Sanji! I see Sanji!" Luffy shouted from the deck of the thousand sunny, wiping away his tears as he grinned.  
"Sanji! Respond to me Sanji!" Luffy continued to shout at the unmoving body of the cook. Everyone looked up, wiping their tears from their eyes as well, they rushed to the side of the ship, and just like Luffy had said, Sanji was really there, but they weren't getting their hopes up just yet, he wasn't moving in the slightest.

Zoro jumped up as soon as Luffy had shouted, energy suddenly filled his body and without hesitation, he dived back in and grabbed the cook, turning him to face upwards as he dragged him up on to the deck where Chopper quickly looked at him, performing chest compression CPR.  
They watched as Sanji coughed violently, spitting water out of his lungs.  
He slowly woke up, his hazy blue eyes staring at them, he seemed to still be slightly out of it, that was until he regained enough senses to figure out what was going on, his eyes widened as he jumped up and away from all of them.

"Get- Get away from me!" Sanji screamed, scrambling away from them and up on his feet. He held out his hands out, as if it was able to push them away from him with a strange force he might possess.  
When he thought none of them was going to jump at him and attack, he slowly took a look around, his eyes scanning the surroundings.

It was a boat, no, a ship and there was a black flag with a skull, cross bones and a straw-hat. It seemed scary but friendly at the same time…he didn't know what to make of the image.  
His eyes tore away from the flag, and focused back on the people, studying each face his face paling as he looked at them individually. They were odd and scary looking, some shouldn't even be alive or human in the slightest!

He didn't notice their tear stained faces or their red eyes, he was too focused on what was going on, he was confused. He slowly looked down at his body, pain was shooting through his joints, blood dripped from the cuts on his skin and his ragged looking clothes.  
He slowly made sense of the situation. "You guys did this to me?" Sanji whispered, accusing them of his current state.  
They could see the terror and absolute fear in his expression; an expression Sanji had never given them before.

Were they going to kill him? Oh fuck no! He couldn't die, he hadn't...he...he...  
Sanji froze, looking at them in a state of panic, he didn't know where his thoughts had been going to. Why couldn't he finish that sentence, there was a nagging feeling in his mind telling him why he couldn't die yet but he couldn't tell what it was about.  
It didn't matter! Either way he didn't want to die, he had to fight back and escape. Now.  
"No we didn't" Nami reached out towards him, hoping her voice would calm Sanji down, he must be in shock right now.  
The glare he gave her sent shivers down her spine, Luffy and Zoro braced themselves in case he attacked, something was definitely up with the cook.  
"Don't come near me." He gritted out between his teeth. They had never seen Sanji act like that to Nami, or any lady before, what was making him turn against them all of a sudden?

The crew were struggling to keep up with this sudden twist of events, only minutes ago they had thought Sanji had died, and they had been grieving in sorrow for their loss, yet only moments ago they had been so happy to see he was alive and well, but now they were on the defence of their erratic cook, preparing to fight him.  
What a roller coaster of emotions!

"Let's go get you treated properly..." Chopper explained, a worried expression on his face as he walked towards him slowly.  
"Don't come near me you...you raccoon?!" What creature or animal could speak with human intelligence? It was freaking Sanji out, it shouldn't be possible!

He slowly shuffled backwards, away from them all, his eyes on them with each step. When he thought he was at a safe distance, he turned and fled as fast as he could, jumping from the ship and onto the beach, his legs giving in slightly from the fall, causing him to roll forwards. He swiftly got up and ran off with a powerful speed that shocked everyone including himself. The crew equally jumped off of the ship and watched as he escaped, slightly surprised by it all. Having known Sanji for as long as they did, they thought he would have fought against them to escape but instead he had ran? It was unlike him...

"We need to get Sanji back and figure out what's going on..." Nami stated.  
"Sanji was in the water too long," Chopper whispered quietly "I need to check his condition and heart!"  
"We have a few hours before the sun sets fully, we should get him before then..." Robin spoke thoughtfully, looking at the position of the sun.  
"Yosh, as captain I shall get Sanji back!"  
"I'll come with!" Chopper exclaimed. "With my nose I'll track him, it'll be easier."  
"I'll go with him" Zoro stated, glaring into the distance.  
"Someone should go with them to watch these two!" Nami pointed at Zoro and Luffy. "I don't want him causing more trouble for us, and this one to get lost."  
Zoro growled at her.  
"I'll go with captain-san, swordsman-san and Doctor-san" Robin said, agreeing with Nami that they should be watched.  
"Franky, Ussop, in the mean time fix the ship. Brook could you check the area and make sure there's no more awaiting ambushes?" Nami continued to order, her eyes still slightly damp from the tears.  
"What about you witch" Zoro demanded glaring at her.  
"I'm going to find and raid the other's ship" They all could already see the money sign in her eyes.

It was a miracle how quick they had overcome the thought of Sanji's death, or maybe they weren't really over the thought but simply trying to hide their shaken emotions.

Without anything else said, Chopper sniffed in the air, and ran ahead whilst the rest of the 'Bring Sanji back' team followed after him. Staying as close as possible as to not lose sight of him as well, he was there only lead to the cook right now.

—-

Sanji breathed heavily as he ran, his legs could go on forever and it surprised him how much power and speed they had, it really came in handy for his get away just now. He ran into a small village, stopping to a small jog as he looked around the busy village. The crowd ignored him, not paying attention to his state of health and clothing, they just continued on their merry way.

He ran into the first door he saw, thrusting it open with all his might.  
"Could you help me?" Sanji asked the man.  
The man raised an eyebrow, confused by the blonde "A rooms 100,000 Berī per night...?"  
"Berī? What's Berī?" Sanji frowned, he shook his head, what ever Berī was, he didn't have any. Did that mean he had to buy help from the people in this village? He ran back out of the building and into a large man, the force causing him to fall to the ground. His blue eyes shaking tearfully as he looked up at the man who looked down at him curiously, lifting one thick eyebrow at him.  
"Help me! Please! These people are trying to kill me!"

The guy grinned down at Sanji, well, what had he found? A little pretty fishy, all tattered and battered, well who couldn't say no to that?  
"Sure thing, pretty boy...why don't you follow me and my crew..."  
Sanji paled, his instincts telling him to run away, but he ignored it, feeling relief wash over him instead, it was much stronger than his fear especially now that someone had said they were going to help him.

The man wrapped his arm around the blondes waist, pulling him along with him. Sanji didn't feel comfortable with this gesture but he didn't push it away, he didn't quite understand it so instead, Sanji thanked them for their kindness and they merely grinned at him.  
The stranger guided him towards another dock on the other side of the village, and onto their ship filled with more men.  
The gut feeling continued to tell him to escape, growing stronger as the minutes passed, especially as the larger man slowly stepped towards him, the floors creaking with each step.  
"I promise we'll become _very_ good friends..." He purred as he grabbed Sanji, easily throwing him against the wall; Sanji grabbed at his side in pain from the impact. The man finally showed his true colours, he wasn't going to help him, he was going to harm him! He was no better than everyone else.

Fear crept into his system once more, it was stronger than the group he had escaped not too long ago.  
The large man dived onto the blonde as the others chuckled, joining in as well.  
"Get off!" Sanji automatically kicked the large man in the face, his leg flexibility was quite impressive as he stretched that high to reach the mans face. He screamed slightly as he struggled against the others before kicking them as well. What was this power? It felt so good! He cartwheeled before hand standing and spinning himself to kick all the men that attempted to come near him.

Before the men could get back up, he took that as an opportunity to run once more, heading back to the village and disappearing into the crowd of people. He couldn't go to either of the docks and the village talked about something called 'Berī', which he knew he didn't have.  
So what was he to do?  
He noticed a path, heading away from the village, he ran towards it and up it until he came across a woman, stopping right at front of her. She looked only a few years older than he was and much kinder than the previous strangers.  
"Are you okay?" She asked gently.  
"This town...everyone...is trying to kill me!" He breathed fast and deeply, almost as if he was having a panic attack, he was desperate and scared. He didn't know where he was, who he was and so far everyone was out to get him.

She smiled softly, holding out her hand to him. "I'll take you somewhere safe, you must be scared and confused, right?"  
He nodded slowly, chewing on his lip as he took her offered hand, almost like a scared lost child who had been separated from his mother.

They walked up the small path, taking in the fresh forest air. The women led him up to a house, it was breathtakingly beautiful with small rose bushes growing by the door and around it, creating an arch over it. The door looked old but interesting with many engravings on it, and in the middle of the lawn stood a beautiful water fountain, crystal clear water flowing from it, sparkling in the bright sun.  
He didn't get to admire it for long as she guided him into the house and into the living room, gently sitting Sanji down on the sofa.  
"Stay here, please don't move around too much, I don't want you getting hurt." Sanji frowned, confused by how he would get hurt in such a place, it looked too safe and cared for.

He sat down on the sofa awkwardly, looking around the room curiously.  
"Okay..." He whispered quietly, gazing at a picture of her with a blonde man.  
"Is that you and...?" He phrased it as a question, not wanting to say anything wrong with any bad guessing in case he offended her.  
"My fiancee..."  
Sanji blushed at her smile.

_'Your friends will be here soon. For now, you are safe...'_

* * *

**Second day, and here is the second chapter. **


	3. I am Sanji?

**Disclaimer: I don't own One Piece or any of the characters.**

**Warning: Rushness; Grammar; OOCness; Yaoi; Lemon; swearing; repetitiveness (I'm a repetitive person) and anything you notice that isn't on this list but is on this list.**

**Thank you to everyone who is following this story and has favourited it. :)**

**Word count: ****1,610**

**IMPORTANT! Reply to Reviews:**  
**B.A Victoria:**Thank you so much for the first review :) Since I got a first review, I'm posting this chapter up early, meaning today had two chapters! :) I would have put it up sooner, but I only just got home from dinner out.

**Naliams: **Thank you for the review as well :)

**Chapter 3: I am Sanji?**

* * *

"Go Chopper, Follow Sanji!"

Chopper nodded, determination in his eyes, he knew it was all up to him to find Sanji and he wasn't going to let his crew down, he now carried such a great responsibility on his shoulders.

He changed his form and ran with all his might, the others trailed behind him, keeping up with his great speed on their search for the blonde man.  
They trusted Chopper and his sense of smell, they knew they could rely on his blue nose to follow the scent of Sanji, but they felt completely useless compared to the reindeer, they'd just have to make it up another way when the time came.

They came to the village of the island, Chopper automatically stopped sniffing the air. Sanji's scent split up in to a few directions, but which direction is he in right now? As Chopper was sniffing the air, the others tried to peer over the large crowd of people to see if a certain blonde hair stood out of place. But there was none.  
"His scent goes into this building but then it…" Chopper spoke thoughtfully, turning his head to smell in another direction, "…goes towards-"

Chopper's sentence was cut off as Luffy broke open the door that Chopper had pointed at, and shouted at the poor man by the counter.  
"Did you see a blonde man!?"  
The poor man held up his hands in fright, looking at his broken door.  
"About this tall, looking hurt, wearing a tattered suit?!"  
The man was now shaking from the sudden intrusion, he was sweating profusely from the glares he was getting, he felt really intimidated by the three.  
"Um...Yes, he… he asked for help, I thought maybe a room, but he didn't know what Berī was..."  
"Where did he go!?" Luffy demanded.  
"I don't know sir.." The man squeaked.  
Luffy slammed his hand's on the desk, that information was useless to him. He didn't need useless information. He glared at the man, watching as the man jumped backwards flinching.

"Bastards! Listen to me before you guys do anything recklessly! His scent heads towards the second dock!" Chopper shouted furiously at the three who were glaring at the man with intimidation. They ran once again, leaving the man in stunned silence, slightly foaming from his mouth as he collapsed to the floor, proving that the intimidation had been too much for him.

They arrived onto the dock and followed Chopper on to a pirates ship, not caring about the crew on it who were cursing about a blonde bastard that looked like a weak damsel in distress, having gotten one over on them. They wanted revenge of the humiliation he had caused them, they continued to curse, saying they would find him, and do all sorts with him until killing him.  
Upon hearing this, Chopper shrieked. "They reek of Sanji!"  
Chopper ignored the wafting scent of Sanji that trailed back to the village whilst he panicked from their words, realising the person they were cursing about was Sanji.  
Luffy, Zoro and Robin had also heard the pirates conversation, and now getting confirmation from Chopper that they indeed smelled of Sanji, angered them more. If they had dared to do such things to Sanji, they were all dead.  
"Nueve Fleur: Twist"  
"Did these weaklings really get the shit cook?" Zoro growled.  
"Gomu Gomu no Elephant Gatling!"

Chopper left the fighting to them whilst he ran around the ship looking for the cook, ignoring the screams and fighting. He ran back out to see that the enemy had all been defeated swiftly and probably painfully by his nakama.  
"Any signs of Sanji?"  
He shook his head sadly.  
Zoro glared. "Chopper...Again..."  
Chopper flinched, sniffing the air once more, before running off; heading back into the village, no longer stopping if the scent went else where.

They ran until they arrived at a house, it looked abandoned and rotten, as if it could fall down any moment. The fountain had been knocked over, the house was now slanted slightly and a few tiles were missing from the roof. It was like it had been abandoned, maybe not lived in for thousands of years.  
They slowly walked up to the house, creaking the already open door.  
"Only one of us should go in..." Robin said, eyeing up the building. If they all entered, there was a good chance it would all just collapse on them and they shouldn't risk all of them just in case Sanji wasn't even there even if Chopper insisted that he was.

"I'll go."

Zoro stepped in as everyone else stepped back from the house. He glanced around, it was a small house, so if Sanji was in here, it shouldn't be hard to find him. He creaked open the first door; the living room door and stepped in, the door swung closed once more.  
There was Sanji, sitting on a tattered old sofa and looking at a dust picture frame.  
"Oi..." He quietly said, not wanting to scare the blonde.  
Sanji jumped up from the tattered sofa, stepping backwards as he stared at the green haired man. How had they found him? Why were they so persistent of getting him? Had he done something so wrong that they were planning to chase him to the ends of the earth? Maybe running from them earlier had humiliated them...

Zoro stopped suddenly, his eyes wide as he saw the large hole behind the blonde. He reached out as fast as he could just as Sanji was about to fall. He grabbed his wrist and pulled him towards him, into a sudden embrace. Before Sanji would react to the action, Zoro smacked him in the side, knocking him out with the blow.

It would be a lot safer for Sanji and him if he could just sleep for a while.  
The house began to creak and shake, the rough motions in the foundation, hinting that it was at it's limit.

The swordsman lifted him swiftly into his arms, kicking the door off of it's rusted hinges and dived out of the open front door, protecting the blonde in his arms as he landed roughly on the ground, just as the house fell into a pile of broken rotten wood. A large dust cloud floated around the house before disappearing into the sky allowing the straw-hats to see the devastation that their cook would have been apart of if he stayed in there any longer.

They sighed in relief, staring at the unconscious cook in the swordsman's arms. They had gotten Sanji in time and he was safe. They watched the setting sun, the beautiful colours painting the evening sky; it was almost set.  
"Let's go back to the ship so I can check him..." Chopper whispered  
"Yeh..." They tiredly said in unison.  
Today had been a long _shitty _day.

—-

Sanji awoke, in a soft white bed in a small white room adorned with a small desk and paintings as well as a swivel chair.  
How long had he been asleep for? The sun shone brightly through a small window. So it was morning then?  
He shifted around, sitting up and noticing he was bandaged up, quite well in fact. Someone had taken care of him, maybe by a professional doctor?

He slowly exited the room, and saw the strangers that had scared him, all gathered around by a barrel talking quietly. He stared at the green haired one, he had been the one who had grabbed him, knocking him out. He looked scary but when he had grabbed him, he had been gentle and protective, not a way someone who wished him harm would do.

"I think cook-san may have lost his memories..." Robin mumbled thoughtfully, looking out to the ocean. This had seemed oddly familiar, she swore she had read this in a book surrounding folklore, but was this actually the place?

"You mean Sanji has Amnesia!?" Chopper shouted. "But but! I checked him and he didn't have any head injuries!"  
"My memories?" Sanji whispered, just enough for everyone to hear him, they all turned to look at him, slightly expecting him to make another get away or something but instead he just stood there, blinking at them.

If this was any other time, Sanji would have ran again in another get away attempt, he glanced at Zoro and remembered how gentle he had been. He looked back at the others, and thought that if the green scary one was kind, they must be as well. He no longer felt scared of them.

"That's right..." A mysterious voice spoke, Sanji's ears piqued, that voice was familiar...?  
They all stared past Sanji, and at a floating see-through woman, their eyes growing larger than saucepans at the sight before them.  
"Gho-ghost!" Ussop and Chopper spluttered as they hid behind Brook and Franky.  
"Well thats peculiar..." Brook mumbled.  
"Says the talking skeleton!" Everyone shouted at Brook who chuckled, rattling his bones.  
"My eyes play jokes on me! But I have no eyes!" Brook laughed once more.

Sanji turned around slowly, had they said ghost? He jumped in shock at the sight of the woman, it had been the woman who had helped him on that pathway and who had taken him to her home, but now she was see-through, she wasn't a solid being after all?

"He has lost his memories," She held up her hand where a blue mist swirled around, hinting that it was the blondes memories.  
The woman who had helped him had been the cause of his situation right now? Was she a good or bad person?! It wasn't making any sense._  
_"My memories?! You took them?! Give them back!?" Sanji shouted at the woman, demanding them back. If he had them back, everything would become clear again, he'd know who he was, where he was and who the people around him was. Clearly they weren't as bad as he had thought they were.

"You died child...and I saved your life for a price..." she clenched her hands, and they watched as the mist disappeared. She continued to speak before they could interrupt her.  
"You had a few regrets, if you can fulfill a certain one, I'll give them all back."  
"And if I cant?!"  
"If it was really important to you...You will remember. Your friends will help you..."

The crew watched as the woman slowly faded away with the passing wind. Leaving them in their thoughts, and a very angry confused blonde.  
He turned to them slowly, a sad look in his eyes. He had no idea who he was and yet he felt so lost. The only people he could rely on were his 'friends' and yet, right now, they were strangers...

"So..." He gulped, "Did you say I was called Sanji?"

* * *

**.**


	4. Sanji is still Sanji

**Disclaimer: I don't own One Piece or any of the characters.**

**Warning: Rushness; Grammar; OOCness; Yaoi; Lemon; swearing; repetitiveness (I'm a repetitive person) and anything you notice that isn't on this list but is on this list.**

**Thank you to everyone who is following this story and has favourited it. :)**

**Word count: ****3,961 (wow!)**

**IMPORTANT! Reply to Reviews:**  
**B.A Victoria: **I also wonder if Sanji can remember how to cook D: It'll be so sad if he doesn't :( Cooking is his life! We'll just have to find out and see :D

**Chapter 4: Sanji is still Sanji**

* * *

Sanji sighed, lifting his hand tiredly and ruffling his hair, letting the strands slide through his fingers. It might have been morning and he might have only just woken up, but he already felt tired, so tired that it was more of exhaustion.

He sighed, feeling the burning stares of his 'crew' who had just confirmed to him that his name was indeed 'Sanji Black-Leg' as well as them being pirates and he was their Nakama.

He suddenly felt like he had caused them too much trouble yesterday with the way he had reacted.  
"I'm sorry" Sanji apologized, shifting his eyes between them all, "For screaming and running from you...it's just..." he trailed off, his blue eyes looking away from them guiltily, mainly because he was still unsure whether they were telling the truth or not, but they were the best he had to realize the truth of who he was.

"It's okay Sanji-Kun, You didn't know who we were, anyone of us would have reacted the same." He smiled kindly to the orange haired girl, she was kind, he felt sorry for glaring at her before.  
"Also, you're welcome to ask us any questions Sanji, we'll be happy to answer." Ussop added, showing the blonde that they were there for them.

Sanji nodded to the long nosed man, but didn't say anything more. He shifted slightly in awkwardness of being stared at, he glanced around the deck of the ship, he couldn't stand the stares anymore and just wanted to get away.  
"Uh...is it okay if I look around the...ship?" Looking around the ship on his own would solve the problem of not standing around awkwardly with them staring at him, plus maybe it could even refresh his memories, kick something in so he would remember.

He wanted to know the truth as soon as possible, it wasn't like he doubted them really, they seemed like nice people despite appearances but at the moment even though they are his 'friends', he still didn't know anything about them; they were just strangers.

"Of course Sanji! This is your home!" Luffy grinned. Yeah...his 'home' that he really knew nothing about.  
He stared at Luffy's grin, his face so happy and bright, an expression Sanji felt like he could trust, he nodded and walked away, slowly and calmly, letting his feet automatically take him as his mind wandered off, trying to rack his mind as to what his regret's could be as everyone went back to their own things.

Franky and Ussop continued to repair the ship prior to yesterdays events, whilst Nami decided to count the money ready for when everyone had settled down so they could go into the town and get supplies. Robin had also ran off to find a certain book and Chopper was in the infirmary, making the bed.

Sanji travelled around, letting his feet guide him until he found that he had entered the kitchen, snapping him out of his thoughts. He didn't know anything about this ship, or the placement of the rooms and yet, somehow, he had entered the kitchen. He closed the door, and gently touched the surfaces of the counters, letting his fingers glide along the cleanness of it all.  
Who ever the cook was, they seemed to cherish the kitchen a lot, it was practically spotless, not even a spec of dust was settled anywhere.  
"This is yours..."  
Sanji whipped his head to the gruff voice, it was the green haired man again.  
"Mine?" Sanji asked in confusion, glancing back at the counters.  
"Yeah, your territory. Those are your knifes, thats your sink, your apron, your plates..." Zoro trailed off, he didn't plan on naming everything in the kitchen, he didn't know most of it for a start.  
"It's your kitchen...cook..."  
Sanji's eyes widened. "I'm a cook?"  
"Well...more like a chef I guess?" Zoro mumbled thoughtfully, thinking about the meals they had always had because of him.

Sanji grinned for the first time that day, he had never thought about asking what he was on this ship, what he was here for the crew but now he knew and it felt nice to have a bit of his identity. A chef? It sounded fantastic, but is he really a chef? Or was the man just telling him a lie, that would be cruel though...it was better to give him the benefit of the doubt, plus he was happy learning such information. He looked down at his hands, still grinning to himself. Maybe...he could try?

Zoro couldn't help but smile as well as he watched Sanji take off his jacket and roll up his sleeves before tying on the pink apron that hanged on the side. He stood awkwardly in the kitchen not knowing what to do.  
"Don't think, just do" Zoro mumbled, still smiling at the blond as he sat down by the counter. Sanji nodded, thrusting open a cupboard to see some sticky rice, he took the bag out and poured some into a pan that was placed on a rack in the corner of the kitchen.  
He washed the rice in cold water three times, before putting the right amount of water and cooking it on the stove, he grabbed some salt, staring at it for a moment before putting a little salt into it, hoping that that was enough.

He took out some dried seaweed, and slid out a knife from a block before slicing it up, piling it neatly to one side.  
He felt calm and at peace, the knife in his hand was a familiar feeling, it was comfortable as if it was made for him.

Zoro couldn't help but notice how graceful Sanji actually moved around the kitchen, so elegant, so beautiful. How he sliced with such confidence and the grip on the knifes handle. Sanji might have forgotten everything, but his body obviously didn't, after all the grip on the knife was the correct positioning unlike how an amateur would hold it.  
Zoro had never noticed Sanji how Sanji was in the kitchen, but now he did, he was observing carefully, letting the sight before him engrave into his memory forever. This feeling to observe the blonde had been caused by the fright of never being able to see him again, although the fright didn't lasted long it was still enough to shock him and now he couldn't imagine Sanji gone.  
They all needed him. But right now, he needed them at this time now that he had lost his memories.

He watched as Sanji took the cooked rice from the stove, and placed the rice in a bowl. He watched as Sanji grabbed a hand full and began to mold it, but the expression on his face told Zoro he was unsure of how to mold it.  
Zoro got up off of his seat and walked up to Sanji, grabbing a handful of rice.  
"This is how you mold it." Sanji turned his head and watched Zoro attempt to mold it.

Zoro put down the onigiri, it was oddly shaped and wasn't completely perfect, he grinned despite it, having never actually tried to make one before, so he felt quite proud of himself.  
Sanij had watched, and had tried to mimic the other but then he was done, it was molded completely perfectly.  
He finished up and pushed the plate towards Zoro.  
Zoro stared at them. "So...cook...why onigiri?"

"Hmm?" Sanji raised an eyebrow "I don't know, it just sort of happened?" It might have seemed he was avoiding the question, but he didn't actually know how to answer it. Why had he actually made that food? Was there a special meaning to it?  
Taking Sanji's reply as an answer anyway, Zoro grabbed an onigiri and stuffed it into his mouth.  
"It's delicious..."

Sanji grinned. "Phew, if you hated it, I really would have doubted I was a cook despite you saying so." Sanji crossed his arms and reached one hand up to his mouth, his two fingers touching his lips and paused, staring at his fingers in confusion. Why was he reaching up to his mouth? Zoro noticed this and smirked.  
"Reach into your pockets."  
Sanji did as he was told and took out a cigarette, he stared at it with disbelief.  
"I'm a smoker?!" Sanji shouted in surprise, surprising the green swordsman as well.  
"...a chain smoker..." Zoro mumbled, eyeing the cook suspiciously.  
Sanji placed down the cigarette on the counter and mumbled to himself but it was still loud enough for Zoro to hear.  
"Why do I smoke...?"  
"Because you just do" Zoro continued to eat, he didn't actually know the reason to why Sanji smoked, he was never that close to the blonde to ask questions like that.  
"But that's dangerous to my health...I'm slowly killing myself..." He whispered in awe.  
"That's what we all told you shitty cook, you never listened though..."

Sanji groaned, throwing the cigarette away from him.  
"I never asked your name..." He mumbled turning to Zoro.  
"Zoro Roronoa" He replied, yawning as he leaned against the counter, it was usually time for his nap.  
"And what are you to me?"  
The green haired man remained silent as he thought about what to say. What could he say? That they hated each other? But that would technically be a lie; Zoro didn't actually hate him.  
"We're rivals to a degree..." He mumbled looking away from the blonde.  
"Rivals?"  
"It's a love-hate relationship"  
Sanji nodded. "What about everyone else?"

"That walking meat ingredient you called a raccoon yesterday is actually a reindeer as well as our doctor, Chopper."  
"Ah..."

Zoro continued. "Ussop is the long nose, also our number one liar. The straw hat is Luffy our captain, don't be surprised when his body stretches."  
Sanji looked confused by that last piece of information, but decided not to interrupt the man whilst he answered his question.  
"Franky is the large walking cola machine and Brook is the talking skeleton. The witch is Nami, she's got the orange hair. Robin is the tall black haired one and she's into history."  
Sanji nodded, absorbing all the information, mentally noting who was who in his mind.  
Zoro reached past Sanji, brushing against him slightly as he took out a large book from a draw and handed it to Sanji.  
"This might help you, it's your book filled with all your recipes..."  
Sanji took it from Zoro, "How did you know?" Sanji asked curiously.  
He shrugged. "I just did" Zoro left it as that as he walked towards the door.  
"By the way, did you want to give some to the others?"

Zoro left as Sanji slowly nodded, noticing that most of the onigiri was gone. He decided to try and make something else for everyone else's snacks; he was feeling fairly confident but as he stood by the counter, he couldn't think of what he could make. What does he usually make? He glanced at the book in his hands, it was everything he knew, he could just use a recipe in it. As he opened the first page, he noticed their was a few pictures there. It was of him and everyone on the ship; smiling. He pushed it aside and looked at another photo, it was of him with a blonde haired man then another of them both with a few others standing on a platform of a ship, grinning in chef uniforms. There was another photo of him with three other people as they ruffled his hair.

The photos, he didn't know who they were but he had known them before because these photos were his memories. Even though he couldn't remember them it made him feel slightly nostalgic and happy inside. He continued to flick through the pages, seeing the many pictures of all the recipes he had created and his calligraphy. They all looked so hard to make, it scared him a little.  
Maybe cheese dumplings filled with strawberries would suffice? He placed down the book and search for the ingredients, happy they had some.

Sanji travelled around the deck, handing the snacks to everyone with a smile on his face, earning a smile from them as well, he just hoped the snacks would suit their tastes. The last crew mate he had to find was Chopper, since Zoro had told him he was the Doctor, he assumed he would be in the infirmary. He made his way to it and opened the door quietly.  
"Chopper?" Said Reindeer turned away from his desk to face the voice of Sanji who stood by the door of the room.  
"Sanji!" Chopper shouted in delight, eyeing up the tasty treat in the cooks hand, Sanji chuckled at the reindeers eyes, he handed him the plate and sat down by the bed.  
"Could I ask a few questions?"  
Chopper nodded. "Sure! Go ahead." He spoke with his mouth full as he chewed on one of the snacks.  
"Where am I from?"  
"You were born in North Blue but grew up in East Blue." Chopper grinned. "Do you know your blood type is S RH-!?"  
He shook his head slowly at Choppers sudden fact about him, of course he didn't know.

"It's extremely rare, so please try not to nosebleed too much from now on!" Chopper batted his eyelids at Sanji who sweat dropped.  
"I'll- I'll try?" He really didn't understand what that meant in the slightest but he didn't really want to question into it so he left it.  
"Did you know where in the North Blue I grew up?"  
Chopper shook his head. "I'm sorry Sanji, I really don't know."  
Sanji smiled at his sad expression. He decided to ask something else instead.  
"Although you're a reindeer...how are you able to talk and change?"  
"Ah, that's because I'm a devil fruit user, as is Luffy, Robin and Brook. We ate a devil fruit, each with different powers."

"What are the powers that you all have?" Sanji questioned with curiosity.  
Chopper continued to explain for him. "I ate the hito-hito no mi, it allows me to turn into a human hybrid and a human at will. Luffy ate the gomu-gomu no mi, he's now a rubber man so his body stretches. Robin ate the Hana Hana no Mi and can sprout parts of her body. Brook ate the Yomi Yomi no Mi, it allowed him to revive after his death."  
Sanji was nodding, ignoring the comment to say because that probably would have been slightly insulting.

"And everyone else? Are they not devil fruit users? Franky?"  
"Nope! Franky is a human too, he just improved himself with machinery." Chopper had said it like it was a normal everyday thing.  
"Thank you Chopper" Sanji stood up to leave, he opened the door and saw Ussop by the railing, inspecting a slight damage to it. He walked up to him and picked up the empty plate. Ussop looked up, noticing the shadow that peered over him blocking the warmth of the sun.  
"Sanji, thanks for the snacks earlier!" Ussop grinned. Sanji smiled back, looking down at him.

"Ah! Um...What is everyone's role on this ship?" Sanji asked, the question clicking in his mind as he realised Ussop had been fixing the ship..  
"I, Ussop, am the bravest man in the seven seas and is the worlds best sharpshooter! Robin is our one and only archeologist, if you want information on anything she's great to go to. Nami is our Navigator, the best there is, Franky is our shipwright, he built this ship.  
Zoro, the swordsman soon to be the worlds greatest. Luffy will be the pirate king, Chopper is the ships doctor, guessing you already knew that and you are our violent chef!"  
"Violent?"  
"Yeh," Ussop laughed, "You can fight with you're legs, your powerful kicks is not something to laugh about."  
Sanji burst into laughter, before dying down to a chuckle. "So I can fight?" He felt so happy, not only was he a chef but he was also a fighter, he sounded quite useful.  
"Yeah, if you want to fight, ask Zoro to spar with you"  
Sanji nodded, letting Ussop go to carry on with what ever he was doing.

—-

Sanji was feeling confident that the food he had made wouldn't taste any different to their usual standards, it would be like he never lost his memory, at least to them and that's how he wanted it for them, they had been so nice to him and he now no longer doubted being their nakama now he had found that photo.

He watched by the counter as they all chowed down to their meal, grinning to himself as they argued over who's food was who's and the fighting that occurred because of Luffy trying to steal everyones food for himself. Dinner was lively, better than he imagined. He had originally thought that they would eat in silence, have a quick meal and then they'd all leave, but it was amusing, sort of like a family dinner.  
"Dinner was lovely Sanji-Kun"  
"Yes, thank you cook-san"  
"Thank you Nami and Robin"

Everyone stared at Sanji, awaiting a certain action of the blonde that they were all use to but it never happened, all they got back was a confused stare.  
"Di-did you want more?" Sanji glanced back to the pot on the stove and sweat dropped, there wasn't any left at all. Should he cook more?  
"No no, it's not that Sanji-Kun..." Nami mumbled, "normally you swoon over Robin and I..."  
"Why would I swoon?" Sanji questioned with confusion, his sentence made Nami wonder if that should be an insult or for her to be relieved that it was no longer happening, it had become quite irritating at time.  
"That's 'cause you're a pervert" Zoro snorted.  
"Yo ho ho!" Brook laughed with Franky who couldn't help but chuckle either.

Everyone else grabbed their plates, or what ever food they had left and pulled it towards them, once again expecting something to happen. Maybe the table being knocked or flipped over for instance but once again, nothing happened instead it was another confused question.  
"I was a pervert?"

Again, the crew was surprised that Sanji had not started a fight with Zoro at all for his comment. Sanji really was different without his memory.  
He noticed their stares, their looks were all saying 'This isn't our Sanji' and he could feel his mood plummeting down gravely. He couldn't be who they expected him to be when he didn't know how he should be; how he was.  
He ruffled his hair in frustration. He felt an urge for something nagging at him but he couldn't pin point what it was.  
"I'm sorry.." Sanji mumbled "I need some fresh air..."

They all watched with worried gazes as Sanji slumped out of the kitchen, his head hanging low.  
They all remained quiet by the table, hesitating to make the slightest of moves. It was obvious that their looks, their gazes had upset Sanji just when he was feeling so happy, maybe they shouldn't have expected him to still be the same, it was just that the food was amazing as always it just seemed like him losing his memories had never happened. Luffy stood up suddenly, a determined expression to comfort the cook on his face. He left the kitchen ignoring the protest to leave him for a bit. A cold breeze brushed past as his eyes landed on Sanji who was leaning against the railing, looking out to sea and the setting sun. He made his way to the quiet blonde and hesitated on interrupting his thoughts but he didn't have to, Sanji spoke up first, answering the silent question on Luffy's mind.

"I'm not alright."  
Luffy didn't move. He stayed silent; standing behind Sanji.  
"Everything I ever knew, everything I've experienced made me who I am and now it's all gone...who am I? You can tell me as much as you want, to drill it into me but...without the knowledge of it myself...it's not the same..."  
Luffy noticed Sanji clench his fist tightly and his head hanged low once more, his bangs hiding his face in shadows.  
"We'd rather you be here with forgotten memories than to be here dead...we had thought we had lost you earlier...Sanji..."

"Either way, without my memories, it's like I died anyway. I died and now I'm reborn. I'm not the 'Sanji' you knew, the one you expect..."  
Luffy noticed Sanji was on about the incident at dinner, when they all expected him to swoon, but to them whether he did or didn't, didn't matter, what mattered was that he was okay, that he was there with them. Maybe them excepting something to happen was wrong of them but at the same time, it was still knew to them that his memories were gone.

"Sanji is still Sanji. Memories or not, you're still you."  
Sanji turned this head slightly to look at Luffy who had a serious expression on his face as he stared at Sanji.  
He cracked a smile. "I guess..." he looked back out to the ocean. "Hey, Luffy?"  
"Hmm," Luffy walked forward, now standing beside him staring out to the sea as well.  
"What is 'All Blue'?" Whilst Sanji had been staring out to the sea, it had popped into his head and he didn't know what it was, but it sounded oddly familiar.  
_'...'I didn't find all Blue'...' _He thought, _'Was that my regret?'_

Luffy laughed.  
"All Blue is your dream! You said there will be loads of different fishes there from all over the world, it's a chef's dream to find it! It's also my dream because once we find it, you're going to make me every delicious dishes with those delicious meat!"  
Luffy was grinning now._  
_"The fact you remember that and make great food just means you're still our Sanji anyway, so you really don't have to worry about what we expect! You're Sanji!" Luffy shouted as he started smacking Sanji on the back as he laughed.  
"Guh!" Sanji held on to the railing as Luffy continued to slap him on the back.

The rest of the crew stepped out of the kitchen upon hearing Luffy's laughter, taking that as a signal that it was alright, they watched the scene before them, chuckling at it.  
"Cut it out you stupid Gomu!" They watched as Sanji lifted up his foot and automatically sent it down on Luffy's head.

At that moment, everyone froze, it was a normal thing for Sanji to do that to Luffy after all, he was their violent chef, but what would Sanji's reaction be? They didn't want to act like they expected something incase it upset Sanji again.  
"Ah, sorry..." And there it was, a not so Sanji act, "I don't know what happened..."  
Luffy laughed it off, as he rubbed his head. "Hehe!"  
Sanji chuckled too, looking away as he smiled. "Stupid.." He mumbled under his breath.

Sanji left Luffy to laugh to himself, chanting something about more meat, but he ignored him and slowly made his way back to the kitchen, nodding to the rest of the crew as he walked past them before disappearing behind the door.  
He leaned against the door and sighed.  
"Well I guess I'll get to cleaning..." He mumbled quietly as he picked up the plates from the table and carrying them to the sink.

He smiled to himself. A place with a variety of fishes from everywhere in the world sounded like a dream, a chef's paradise, but was it really real? Was there going to be a place where the sea really connected in one place? Sanji continued to smile.  
Of course there was. After all, he knew it already, his heart told him so.

"All Blue..."

* * *

**.**


	5. In dreams I remember

**Disclaimer: I don't own One Piece or any of the characters.**

**Warning: Rushness; Grammar; OOCness; Yaoi; Lemon; swearing; repetitiveness (I'm a repetitive person) and anything you notice that isn't on this list but is on this list. I will also not take responsibility for any problems the readers have experienced. Eg. Puking rainbows. **

**Thank you to everyone who is following this story and has favourited it. :)**

**Word count: 2,400 (Give or take)****  
**

**IMPORTANT! Reply to Reviews:**  
**Reviews to Master** : ...*Bursts into laughter* Oh wow, thanks for all the reviews!  
Yup Sanji did die, but hell, I brought him back 'cause he's Sanji! Too damn awesome to really get rid of.  
Yup, that's actually pretty much what happens. I slammed my head on ice once and blacked out before waking up again, not knowing what was going on. I was so confused and in pain and I was pushing my friends away 'cause I didn't know who they were and then just apologizing like mad for them trying to help me xD  
Sanji doesn't know he loves him, he lost his memories. XD  
The motive the ghost woman wants? Hmm, if I tell you, I might just have to... I mean...I don't know...I will have to speak to her... . .  
Ah, totally forgot about possessive nouns. I do understand, I have gotten it correctly a couple of times, chapter one was fine (just read it) that was the main chapter I bothered to re-read thousands of times, but I think at some point I just typed and then began to ignore errors like that. Especially when I'm multi-tasking between writing, reading and uni work. xD  
Just found one in chapter 3 now and will correct it. But for now, this chapter.

Confused by your words for a second, um, if you do start puking rainbows I am unable to pay the emergency bills and will not take responsibility for it. Sorry :). xD Just gonna put that in the warning section... . .  
They are indeed coming back, I see you're impatient for sex scenes :L Oh my xD

**B.A Victoria** : I wonder if they will duke out, hmm? There is a possibility of him freaking out, anyone would freak out if they were suddenly on fire. Ho ho, The possibilities are endless...:D

**Chapter 5: In dreams I remember**

* * *

Zoro sat up, rocking the wooden hammock slightly as he did, he rubbed at his eyes tiredly before looking around at the beds beside him; he noted that the cook was missing from his bed.

Did Sanji have watch tonight? No that was Ussop...  
He climbed out of his hammock, slowly and carefully as to not wake the others up from their slumber. He took a good look around the room once more in case Sanji was really there before heading out to find him, had something happened to him?

He glanced up to the crow's nest, seeing Ussop's figure gazing out to the other side. He glanced around on deck, squinting into the darkness just incase he was standing there instead, but there was still no sign off him, so the only other place...

...was the kitchen... and indeed, there was the cook sleeping soundly on the seats, curled up in a fetal position; shivering. Why had the cook slept here? It was then that it dawned on Zoro that no one had actually mentioned to him where the men's sleeping quarters were. It wasn't their fault entirely, he could have at least asked if he didn't know, it wasn't hard to ask a simple question.  
_'So instead of asking one of us, this idiot decided to sleep here?' _Zoro grumbled in his mind.

He sighed, what an idiot cook he really was, whether he lost his memories or not, he was still acting on his own. Just for once, couldn't this bloody cook not act on his own and just rely on his nakama for once?

He glanced at the clock, it was only 2am, he turned and walked away, leaving the blonde to sleep in the cold.  
Damn it to hell, he choose to sleep there, so let him be right? He deserved it, he had been an idiot!  
He walked back to the men's quarters, but instead of climbing back in his bed, he snatched the blanket from Sanji's usual hammock and traveling back to the kitchen, he wasn't doing this because he cared, there was no way in hell. It was only because the damn shitty cook might catch a cold, plus, he and the rest of the crew were - probably - in the wrong for not even trying to tell him.  
He tip toed up to the sleeping blonde and gently placed the blanket on Sanji, covering his entire body.

_"I will definitely..." _Zoro blinked, staring down at the blonde who had muttered.  
"..._find that sea one day..."_  
Zoro didn't move a muscle nor breath, had Sanji woken up? Had he woken him up?  
After a few seconds of playing 'How long can I be a statue for?', he realised it was just sleep talking. Damn fucking cook scared the shit out of him.  
He gently moved away and sat beside the blonde's head, listening in on his dream. What was it about? Not that he cared, he was just...a little curious.

_"...It's my dream..."_

"Heh, and I thought seeing ladies was your dream, stupid!" Zoro talked back, knowing full well the blonde couldn't hear him talk.  
_"...I can't let them kill me..."_  
Zoro's ears piqued with interest. "Who cook?" Just who was trying to kill him in his dream? Was it someone they knew?  
_"...these goons..."  
_Sanji flinched in his dream, his peaceful face contorting into pain. Zoro leaned forward, closer to the blonde, his hand pushing his hair out of the way.  
"Oi, Oi cook!"  
_"Like I'll die, I need to get to all blue..."  
_Zoro's eyes widened as he saw a few tears slide down Sanji's face. What was the cook dreaming about that he was crying? Had something happened to him before that was traumatising?  
_"I can't die...by these pirates..."_

Zoro frowned, he almost died because of pirates? Was this recently? Was his dream about the other day? But, there have been a lot of near death experiences after all they were pirates...

He watched as Sanji twisted and turned, his breathing becoming shallow as he gasped for breath.  
"Oi, oi! Sanji! Wake up!" He grabbed him roughly and shook him awake, causing him to wake up suddenly, blue eyes shot wide open. Sanji gasped for breath, sucking the air into his lungs like a vacuum.  
"Zoro.." He mumbled as he calmed himself down slowly, looking around the room as he did so.

"It's alright, it was just a nightmare...of the other day...so calm down" Zoro spoke awkwardly, trying to sooth the cook. He really wasn't use to this all comforting, soothing thing.  
Sanji wiped at his face. "No, I-I was a kid..."  
Zoro looked at him, silently telling him to carry on.  
"I - I was on this cruise ship, wanting to be a cook of the sea someday and I was just helping out but it got attacked by pirates and...and I was drowning..."  
"A memory?" Zoro asked crossing off the idea of it being the events from the other day.

"I think so..." He looked at his shaking hands. "I don't know whether to be happy or not..."  
"Be happy, you got a memory back, right?" Zoro grinned at him, whether it was a scary past memory or not, to have one back was something to be happy about.  
"But how do I know it's real?"  
"Sometimes, the mind has dreams from a traumatic experience, usually when something reminds you of that time..." He looked at the shaking blonde "your body is reacting to it so I'd say it's real..."

"The photos and...all blue..." Sanji whispered, holding his hands together to stop the shaking. Zoro opened his mouth to question about the photos but Sanji had spoken first when realisation had kicked in for him as he noticed that he was wrapped in a blanket. Had Zoro brought it here for him?  
"Why are you here, Zoro?"  
"You weren't in the room..." Zoro answered quickly, forgetting about what he wanted to ask.  
"I didn't know where it was..." This answer slightly annoyed Zoro.  
"That's when you're meant to ask shitty cook! You'll catch a fucking cold here! Just how dumb are you?!"  
"Huh?! What did you just say, you grass head!?"  
"What was that curly brow?!"  
"What's wrong with my brow?!"

They both 'tsked' their tongues, roughly snapping their heads away from each other.

"It's too curly..." Zoro muttered under his breath.  
Sanji turned and glared at the back of the swordsman's head. He decided to ignore the insult and decide there was something better to say instead of insults.  
"Thanks..."  
"Huh?"  
"For the blanket..."  
"Uh, yeh, it's...uh...okay?" Damn, hearing a thank you from Sanji was too damn creepy.

"Want a drink?" Sanji asked, getting up from the seat, the blanket still wrapped around his slender frame. It was cold tonight so maybe a warm drink?  
"Sake?" Zoro asked hopefully, his eyes lighting up.  
"Too early in the morning, Marimo." he laughed playfully. There was a pause as Sanji cluttered around in the kitchen.  
"Say that again?"  
"Marimo?"  
"Again.."  
"Marimo...?"  
"Again!"  
"Marimo!"

Sanji glared at him warning him that it was enough, but his glare softened at the smile that was thrown at him. The smile was better than the scowl he had seen the green haired man have usually.  
"Earlier...when I thought you were gone, I never thought I'd hear that again..."  
Sanji remained quiet. Everyone must have had a shock when they thought he had died, even Luffy had mentioned it earlier to him.

"What made you want to call me Marimo?"  
Sanji bit his lip thoughtfully as he finished making the tea, leaving Zoro to wonder if he was actually going to answer him. He carried the drinks over to Zoro and sat down beside him, handing him his drink where he finally answered.  
"It just rolled off my tongue, it was automatic..."  
Zoro blew at the cup, nodding, he was just slowly remembering things then. It kind of made him happy that, what he remembered so far, was about him.  
"How did this crew begin?"  
"It's a long story..." Zoro mumbled, having a quick flashback of it.  
"And I've got time..."

He smirked, "Alright then, when I met Luffy, I was tied to this post in the marine courtyard for three weeks, no food or water. I was trying to finish a deal with some little shit-head called 'hippopotamus' and then Luffy, being the crazy kid he is, climbed over the Marines wall just to talk to me about joining his crew. He wouldn't listen to reason, heck I was a pirate hunter, but he got my swords and as long as I fulfilled my dream, I didn't care. So that's how I joined and it began."  
"That's one way to summarise it all..."  
"I'll continue then. We set sail after defeating the marines, just to add in, we were unbeatable. But then a bird ate him, and I had to chase him with the boat but somehow we ended up in this village and we met Nami, a cat thief. I saved Luffy and Nami, then we all saved the village from a big nosed clown man thing"  
"Haha! A clown?"

Zoro chuckled, "Yeah, thinking back on it, it was really stupid. He could even split his body into parts!"  
"Woah, wait! Into parts!?" A blush appeared slightly on the cook's face as his mind travelled to ideas on how the body would slice into pieces.  
"Get your head out of the gutter cook!" Zoro coughed, hiding the slight crimson he had on his face too, after having realised what the man had been thinking about. That kind of thought had never occurred to him before.

"Then, again, we set sail to another village that Ussop lived at. There was this plan by this Kuro cloud-doru guy with cat claws, we defeated him like always and then got a better ship from this girl Ussop likes, and so he joined our crew."  
"So thats four members. Wait, so you fought a cat?"  
"Yeah, and a bunch of other cats, Ussop and Nami gave them little star treats."  
Sanji laughed, sipping his drink, imagining all these fluffy cat's.  
"Anyway, let me continue! Stop interrupting! We sailed yet again, to a floating restaurant, where we met you. First image we saw of you, was holding a bloody guy by the throat. I fought Mihawk and lost, the restaurant got damaged and you joined us. Huh? Whats wrong?"

Sanji was frowning at this part of the story Zoro was telling him. He didn't remember it, nor did it trigger anything in his mind but he thought back to the picture he had seen of him on a platform with others in chef uniforms. So that had been a floating restaurant?  
"No, nothing"

Zoro continued to speak into the meeting with Chopper, that was until he felt a light thud on his shoulder. He turned to look at Sanji who had fallen over in slumber, his head resting onto his shoulder. His face was peaceful as he slept soundly and contently; his chest lifting in a steady rhythm.  
Zoro felt his heart flutter slightly, trying to climb up his throat and escape from his chest, he gulped, pushing it back down.  
His green eyes traced around the blonde's features. He never paid attention to how long Sanji's eye lashes were, how pale and smooth his skin was and how soft his lips looked. So plump...so pink...how would they feel?

He tore his eyes away. He didn't think something like that. That thought had not crossed his mind, it had not happened and he was going to refuse to admit it. The cook wasn't attractive at all, wait, no one even said he was attractive!  
Nope, nope, nope. Zoro wasn't even thinking he was attractive, no thoughts like that had even occurred.

He frowned, he wouldn't even be thinking like this if the shit cook hadn't acted so differently with him, so kind and talkative like they were buddies...yet Zoro had also joined in, actually no, he had started it by following him to the kitchen...

So, why was he acting differently with Sanji? Normally he would leave the cook be, not even bother with him, and yet, he was and he was enjoying it. Talking and being close to the blonde was nice when they weren't arguing, they actually got on quite well if they actually bothered to try.  
He looked back at Sanji and slowly reached his hand out to the blondes face, his heart beating faster. He stopped himself, what was he doing? What was he going to do? He pulled his hand back slightly. Oh wait, that's right, he was going to push Sanji away from him. He gently lifted Sanji's head up, and pushed it away only to have him fall back on his shoulder.

He sighed, deciding to leave Sanji like that, he was comfortable right?  
If anyone asked, he wasn't enjoying it.

* * *

**.**


	6. Photographs

**Disclaimer: I don't own One Piece or any of the characters.**

**Warning: Rushness; Grammar; OOCness; Yaoi; Lemon; swearing; repetitiveness (I'm a repetitive person) and anything you notice that isn't on this list but is on this list. I will also not take responsibility for any problems the readers have experienced. Eg. Puking rainbows. **

**Thank you to everyone who is following this story and has favourited it. :)**

**Word count: 2,400 (Give or take)****  
**

**IMPORTANT! Reply to Reviews:**  
**Reviews to Master** : Haha! I'm glad I make you laugh :)  
And, it was only temporary memory loss along with a stutter, so after being checked out at the hospital and a couple of days rest I was fine. Hahaha! Soon...Soon they shall get their fix xD.  
I will be continuing this. Just being slow recently since christmas is coming up.  
The ghost woman told me all the answers to your questions but to tell you now would ruin it all :(

**B.A Victoria** : Thank you for another review and it's a shame he didn't :( I hope soon there we be a kiss or two :D

**HappyMe-O **: Thank you for the review :) And I'm glad you like it so far.

Now, my apologies for everyone. Please take a slice of apology cake, no fighting please. I apologise for the sudden disappearance, I had an upcoming assessment and I had to do that first. That's all out of the way, then there was a few parties I had to attend and some christmas shopping. So I was unable to focus. But now I give you...

**Chapter 6: Photographs**

* * *

_Soft blue eyes slowly fluttered open to the sight of the equally bright blue sky._ For a moment, he watched the clouds drift past before breathing deeply, breathing in the salty fresh air. He knew that smell, it was of the sea and as always, it was nice, fresh and calming.  
He closed his eyes once more, feeling the breeze against his skin as he continued to lay there in his tattered and disarrayed clothes that were unlike his usual attire.

Oh how he loved the ocean…it was magnificent, so breathtaking and so calming. He dreamed to one day travel it all, but he knew the ocean was so vast, maybe he wouldn't be able to, but as long as he saw 'all blue' nothing else mattered.  
Maybe his dream would have been easier if he had been born a merman. Oh how he wished he had been, for then, he could live in the sea and see it all…

…but sadly it wasn't his destiny to be born as a merman but instead it would be great if one day he could meet mer-people.  
Would life have been easier for him underwater? In comparison to the recent events, maybe, no it certainly would have been better.  
He sighed deeply, had pirates actually attacked the cruise ship? Had he really stood up against pirates in the spur of the moment of wanting to live? Yes he did…  
It really was stupid of him...but what did it matter now? It didn't matter, that was yesterdays events, and although he had been stupid by acting on his impulse, he didn't regret fighting to live…although…maybe he was actually dead now? And this was heaven; his heaven.

"You're awake, small fry?" The blue eyed boy sat up quickly, jumping out of his daydreams to see the back of a large man. Straight away he noticed the blonde hair and remembered, it had been the pirate… "You're really something else…" The pirate said in a tone that the boy couldn't tell whether it was an insult or a compliment.  
"Pirat- urgh!" He grabbed at his stomach, his face contorting in pain. Why did it hurt so much? It was like his entire body had been crushed by a thousand large men who had dared to sit on his tiny frame like it was a boat and hope it would float on water. Okay, maybe he was exaggerating the pain, but dammit, it hurt like hell.  
"There's no way you could move!" The voice chuckled in amusement as he heard the boy whimper again.  
The boy glared at him, cursing the other in his head as he continued to hold his stomach and rid of the pain. Was this really amusing to that old man?!  
"Whose kick do you think you took earlier?" The man continued to speak despite the current lack of conversation from the other who just ignored the question anyway, and instead asked his own question.  
"Where's the ship?" He looked around, there there was no sign of either the cruise ship or the pirate ship nor any other life but the two of them on what it appeared to be a rock?  
"Who knows..." The man spoke sadly. "In that kind of storm, wouldn't be surprised if it got destroyed."  
The boy almost felt his heart stop, wait, destroyed? Did that mean everyone on the cruise ship had died. Did that mean those three...had they died as well?  
The man didn't turn around once to face the boy, but continued to speak.  
"We're the only one's who made it here. There's no food on this rocky island...you might think of fishing, but once you go down there's no way of getting back up. Dying like rats, makes you want to cry doesn't it?"

Yes it did, it really did want to make him cry. He was stuck on this rock with a damn pirate who just had to attack them yesterday in the midst of a storm and land them in this mess.

He gritted his teeth together.  
"It's all your fault anyway! I'm gonna kill you" His voice was shaky, almost as if he didn't shouted, he would cry instead and the older man knew the kid didn't mean his words but knew he was angry with him.  
"Stop barking!" The man shouted back, what good use was it to tear at each other. "All we can do is wait until help arrives. Otherwise you'll use up all your energy and simply turn into a skeleton."  
"A skeleton?" The boy imagined himself as a skeleton, "Me?" The thought scared him to his bones, he didn't want that to happen. It couldn't happen could it?  
"That sack over there is your share." The boy turned his head and looked at the sack.  
"If you eat normally, it should last you five days, so use your head on how you go about it."

The boy 'tsked' is tongue.  
"Wait! Is that your share?! Why's it bigger than mine?!" The boy demanded to the elder.  
"But of course...I am an adult, I need more than you." He turned slightly just to look at the child over his shoulder. "Just be grateful I spared you any." He glared at him "Don't expect me to feel sorry for you"  
Sanji glared back at the man, huffing. "You old fart..."

It was later in the day and the sun was beginning to set now, but the boy remained sitting by the edge of the rock, his knees to his chest as he gazed out to the vast ocean for a sign of a ship.  
_'Wait on the other side...' _The boy thought._  
'Look for a ship...' _He squinted at the edge of the sea._  
'Don't contact each other as not to waste energy...' _He pouted. '_Keep praying'_

He growled, frowning at his thoughts. "As If I'd tell him I saw a ship!" He angrily shouted grabbing at the sack roughly, pulling out the food and laying it all out before him in portions.  
"I'm all set! I've got enough for five days. A ship has gotta come by in five days!" His smile faltered slightly, "But there's still a chance one wont. So, maybe I should divide it into 20 day portions?" He smiled to himself once more, feeling very smart now.  
He counted out the food, moving it around into twenty portions.  
"I'm all set!" He declared proudly puffing out his chest proudly.

As he stared to the horizon, no ships had come and the sun had set sending the darkness to greet the boy with a chill air. If he didn't die from starvation, he'd die by the cold.  
The boy drew a line on the rock with a chalk stone.  
"None today huh?" It's alright! They'll come in two to three days!" He smiled, staring out to the vast ocean.  
_'I don't want to die…' _He thought, biting at his lip.

Days went by, the sun would rise and set and the moon would peek and hide but still, there sat the boy watching out to sea, forcing himself to stay awake but the lines on the only increased until there were 28 lines.

"The last loaf of bread..." The boy mumbled tiredly, holding the mouldy piece of bread in his hand. "Better take it in well.."  
He chewed it slowly, images of his life back on the cruise ship flashed in his mind, all the food and left overs. Life had been easier then, enough for him to throw away the left overs into the bin. He was now regretting his actions, realising how precious food really was, whether it was left overs or not when you live on the sea, it really doesn't matter. He thought back to the chefs who had taken care of him, who had told him to eat, he should have listened to them, obviously, they had known best.

His stomach growled hungrily as he cried; tears streaming down his face, he wiped them away with his hand, the loaf of bread slipping out of his grip and falling off of the edge.  
"Ah!" He leaned over, reaching out to the bread, hoping to grab it, hoping it would fly back into his hands, but sadly it was too late and it was gone; splashing into the water below. He no longer had any food, the bag was now empty, as empty as his stomach. His bottom lip quivered as he felt his stomach squeeze painfully tight, growling at him.

Another 26 days came and went, with rain, sun and clouds, but there was still no sign of a ship to rescue him.  
He rocked backwards and forwards, his thoughts had been else where for a long time.  
Humming a small melody to himself, a melody he had heard and learned back on the cruise ship.

_I gaze my eyes, upon the dark blue sea,_  
_Where the old romantic tales,_  
_and my dreams, come back to me._

_and I know, that somewhere out there_  
_my lover waits for me,_  
_sending kisses through the air_

_Till my soul is full of longing_  
_For the secret of the sea,_  
_it sends a thrilling pulse._

_and I know, that somewhere out there_  
_my lover waits for me_  
_sending kisses through the air_

_How I dream, to be there…_  
_with you_

He'd repeat the song, over and over, to himself as he rocked in tune.  
He no longer looked like the healthy young child he once was, but was now smaller with barely any skin on his bones, his face so slim and his body so weak from malnourishment. His dark circled eyes still looked out to the sea, no life in them; the blue colour looking so dull. He continued to rock himself, his lips still moving as he mumbled to himself.

He whispered the last part and stopped rocking. His thoughts back to every one who had been on the Orbit. The tears were welling up, he was surprised that he could still cry, just how many times has he cried? How many times has he thought about them, and bawled his eyes out until it hurt, until he was wheezing and in pain.  
"So pathetic...I'm so pathetic…" He whispered to himself, laughter echoing in his mind as he fell backwards, his back landing on the hard rock with a thud. He stared at the sky, the sky he had grown sick of seeing. He glowered at it, oh how jealous he was of the clouds. The freedom they have, why couldn't he be a cloud? Why couldn't he drift with no care in the world? With no fears and worries and death lurking at every corner. Death…

"Come get me!" The boy shouted in a raspy voice. "Kill me already!"  
Did death just want to toy with him, make him suffer this pain. It was so cold and he was so hungry. There was no hope anymore.  
He looked over the edge of the rock and contemplated; contemplated death. It sounded so nice right now...it would take away the pain, it would take away the suffering. He'd be with them… How could they have left him?! How could they have abandoned him, had they not cared for him to stay, stay in this world. Had they never thought about how he would feel. No, it wasn't their fault they left him, death took them and now it was Sanji's chance to go back to them, to take the chance and be with them once more, he'd be with them and he wouldn't be so lonely anymore…

He closed his eyes and smiled, yes, he could be happy again...he stood up slowly, his legs shaking as he did. He breathed in the salty air, raising up his arms, ready to welcome the waters embrace but the sound of coughing stopped him.

He turned his head in the direction. Oh yeah, that shitty old man was still here…so,he was still alive and kicking then. Why should he die and not the old man? It was his fault...it was his fault he was in this situation! He wouldn't have had to suffer these pain staking days of cold and hunger if he hadn't escaped death the first time when it would have been quicker then. Maybe they wouldn't even be here if that shitty pirate hadn't attacked them in the first place!

Both ships would have survived the storm, he knew it would have but that man, that man! He had caused it all! He needed to pay...he needed...he deserved it...  
He stepped away from the edge and slowly climbed over the rock, wanting to see the man who deserved death more than anything but instead he saw the large sack from before still as big as previously. Hope seeping in to his mind once more.  
_'There's still plenty!' _He couldn't believe his eyes, was it playing tricks with him now? If so, it was a very cruel one…

He held up a knife, it shone from the glare of the sun. He was prepared, prepared to kill to survive. It was a scary thought, but he had to, he had to be brave to protect himself and if he needed to, he would kill the man. Slice him to pieces, bit by bit and cut by cut, slowly and painfully, after all, did a demon like him deserve a quick death?  
He could feel the knife now, sinking slowly into the mans skin, piercing his insides. His eyes grew wide with craze his heart beating rapidly, anticipating the moment he would strike. Oh the excitement, the thrill!

"Why are you here, Small eggplant?"  
The boy stopped, gasping as the man sensed he was there, he had been so quiet not even he had heard his own foot steps.  
"Perhaps you saw a ship?"  
Why!? Why was the man speaking so kindly and gently to him? Why now? Why when he was so determined to gut him like a fish…  
"I came to take your food! If you're going to kill me then go ahead and try!" He held up the knife. "Without anything to eat, I'd die anyway!"  
He launched for the bag and cut it open with the knife, and his face faltered, watching as gold and treasure flowed out from it. He grabbed at the treasure, letting it slid through his fingers. "What's this? This is just mere treasure...?"  
"Having money but nothing to eat, it's quite ironic isn't it?" The older man asked, chuckling slightly.

The boy ran at the man, grabbing the elder man's clothes in his small fists, shaking him as roughly as he could with his weakened body. "What is this nonsense?! Did you not eat anything until now?!"  
He looked to the front of the man and his eyes widened, falling to the ground.  
There was the man, with his leg gone. Had he?! Had he eaten it?!  
"The food you handed me, was that it?!"  
"Yes"  
"But without your leg, you can no longer be a pirate!"  
"I guess you're right"

He cried, taking a deep breath as tears fell. "Why!? You didn't have to!"  
The man fell backwards on to his back, closing his eyes as he breathed deeply.  
"Old man! Don't die!"  
"I wonder how many people have cursed the sea... I said to myself that if I lived, I would open up a restaurant in the sea..."  
That sounded like a really good idea, and right now, the boy was feeling awe and respect for this pirate, after all he wouldn't have survived this long if that man hadn't given him the only food he had. He practically owed the man his life now. Funny, he was so determined to kill him but now, the man was everything.  
"I'll help out old man! So don't die on me!"  
"Heh, what can a small eggplant like you do?"  
"I'll get stronger!"

The boy turned around and saw, just over the horizon, a ship at last. _He couldn't help the tears once more as he shouted as loud and as powerful as he could.  
"Hey! Help us! Help this old man!"_

Sanji drowsily lifted up his head, his necked clicking in pain as he forced himself to sit up properly. He wiped away the moist feeling on his face and leaned forward staring at the floor sadly, his mind clouded with faded images from his dream.  
Yes...it had just been a dream...another dream...more like a nightmare, but a dream none the less and yet, it felt so real and he felt like shit because of it. Had it been a memory as well? Had he really starved for so long on a rock, alone with that old man who...who ate his leg?  
Sanji gulped.  
He felt disgusted with himself, he could still feel the emotions he had in that dream; that memory. He had felt so twisted, full with anger, sadness and loneliness. His thoughts had driven him insane to the point he had almost, no he had been determined to kill the other man, to rip him into shreds just so he could survive. It had been a horrible feeling and to go with those feelings, he had also pictured a thousand ways to kill the man in his head, the images and the ideas, he had plotted the plans like the man had been just a lump of meat in the kitchen.

He sighed just as a slight snore sounded, surprising him from his stupor and slowly turned his head - his mind no longer on his dream - and faced a Zoro who sat sleeping beside him.  
Sanji's eyes widened and he froze.  
_'I fell asleep on him…'  
_His eyes swept over Zoro's sleeping face that was so peaceful. _  
'He didn't push me away?' _He felt his heart beat faster, thudding erratically against his chest with every silent second. _  
_What did it mean for Zoro to not have pushed him away? Was there a special meaning to it? Wait…did he want there to be a meaning behind it? Would it be bad if he did?  
_  
_Sanji gulped, slowly scooting further from the green haired man as he stood up with the blanket, he unwrapped it from himself and placed the blanket on Zoro instead. He quietly walked to the kitchen, and slowly began to cook as quietly as he could.

Zoro woke up to a sweet aroma, his eyes falling on the blonde who danced around the kitchen, humming to himself in his pink doskoi panda apron. He had never seen this side of Sanji before, he'd always seen him in this pink apron and always thought he was somewhat of a, politely putting it, doofus but right now it was kinda adorable. He looked at the entrance, hoping no one would come in yet. He got up from the sofa and travelled to the kitchen, leaning on the door frame.

"Morning cook..."  
Sanji looked at him with his bright blue eyes and smiled. "Morning Marimo!"  
Zoro couldn't help but smile at the once irritating nickname that he now knew had become an attachment.  
"You're up early, did you have a nice sleep?"  
"Yeah, what about you?"  
Sanji only nodded, thinking about having used Zoro as a pillow.  
"Want an early breakfast before everyone comes down?" Sanji asked the marimo who's eyes lit up suddenly at the mention of it.  
An early breakfast? That meant he didn't have to eat around Luffy and be forced to protect and fight for his food or just have it stolen from him and he liked the sound of being able to actually eat so, he nodded his head eagerly, maybe too eagerly.  
Sanji chuckled, placing some pancakes on a plate, and placing it at front of Zoro who had dived to a chair as fast as lightening. He gave him some more pancakes whilst placing some toast, and a few bacon and fried eggs on another plate. Sanji then came back with a small bowl of rice and a few slices of fish before pouring Zoro a glass of water and a cup of green tea.  
Zoro stared delightfully at the food, drool escaping his mouth. He had always been late to breakfast and most of the time it was already gone and he'd only just have a few things that had been left over, if any really.  
"Thanks for the food!" Zoro grinned as he spoke loudly, digging into his breakfast.

It wasn't long before Zoro was finished and was full. Burping in satisfaction of the delicious food he had chowed down on, and then, in that moment, everyone piled in for their breakfast. Sanji filled up the plates on the table for everyone else as they all sat down nosily in their chosen seats, watching as the Marimo ran away, waving behind him to gesture his goodbye and his thank you.  
"Zoro! Are you not eating!?" Ussop called after him ignoring the wave the swordsman had done.  
"I'll have his share!" Luffy shouted, his tongue hanging out of his mouth.  
"He's already eaten" Sanji answered them, smiling kindly at them all as he poured drinks.  
"That's unusual..." Robin mumbled to herself, eyeing the blonde up and down. Nami had also stared after the green haired man, her eyes on the door. Something was going on.

No one else questioned it but instead continued with their breakfast that was now at front of them. Everyone laughed and chewed on their food, protecting it from a certain hungry captain who only wanted more after having finished his own plate.  
The breakfast came to an end, everyone calm down from laughter and arguments. Nami coughed slightly to gain attention, hinting that she wanted to speak, ideally, she had wanted Zoro to be here too but surprisingly he had been quite an early bird today. Highly suspicious.  
"The plans have changed, so instead of departing tomorrow like we planned, we'll be staying a few days or longer until Sanji's memories come back to him. So let's take this as like a little holiday."  
"Like a holiday?" Ussop asked "Does that mean we can sleep in a hotel?!" The thought of comfy beds, not that they were complaining about their hammocks, were making them excited, it had been so long since they could stretch in a bed without having a limb or two hanging out of it.  
"Yeah yeah!" Chopper and Luffy joined in with Ussop, chanting about comfy beds.  
Nami sighed. "With your own money, sure." Like hell was she paying for them, bloody idiots.  
"Awww!" They whined sadly, all glaring at Nami.  
"Stingy" Luffy pouted, the only one out of the three to insult the orange haired navigator.  
Robin, Franky and Brooke chuckled at their antics, quite amused by it all.  
Luffy turned to Nami once more totally forgetting about how stingy she was.  
"Can we eat at some local restaurants?" He clasped his hands together. "All you can eat!"  
Nami glared once more at Luffy but was stopped from saying anything as the quiet cook finally spoke up.

Upon hearing Luffy mention 'restaurant', he had remembered his dream about starting one with an old man, possible the man in that picture. Zoro had also mentioned that were they all met him.  
"Speaking of restaurants…could you guys tell me about the the floating restaurant you met me at?" Sanji asked, looking hopeful at them. They, after all, had meet him at the restaurant and hopefully had some answers that could clear a few things up for the blonde and his curiousity.  
No one spoke up other than Luffy who grinned ear to ear upon hearing the question from the blonde, completely forgetting about food he answered Sanji.  
"The 'Baratie' is this huge popular floating restaurant on the sea with fighting cooks for both marines and pirates! The food is delicious there, especially when you were working there. You were really kind, giving food to those who were hungry because you knew the pain of starvation!"  
Sanji frowned slightly, so Luffy knew his past, well he didn't need to ask if that was true or not now, he knew his answer.  
"Oh and Zeff! He's the head chef and is like your old man. He's really mean, kept hitting me on the head with his peg leg! Oh and he wore this massive hat!"  
Luffy stretched his arms above his head to indicate how big the hat was.

"I was forced to work there by him since I made a massive hole in the roof, it was an accident though!" Luffy whined slightly at the thought but then chuckled.  
"But that didn't matter 'cause later some bad dude came and tried to take the ship and a whole fight occurred until we all won!"  
Sanji grinned, listening as Luffy talked about it all.  
"But before we won, you were getting quite beaten up, especially when Zeff was being held hostage and like Genji, this dude you gave food to was going to kill you but because you had been nice to him, he saved you."  
Images flashed in Sanji's mind as Luffy described everything. All the times he had been told off by Zeff, all the kicks and hits. The praises and the insults. It was coming back to him slowly, little by little, but as they say patience is a virtue.  
The one image that flashed in his mind, had been of Zoro being slashed across the chest.  
It was more vivid than every other memory that flashed in his mind. Sanji didn't know why but he felt mad.

Once everyone had left and he had cleaned the kitchen, he went for a Marimo hunt on the deck and oh how lucky he was. It was sleeping in a corner of a deck ever so peacefully.  
Sanji stared down at the marimo, a sad look in his eyes.  
So…was there really a scar beneath that shirt? Had Zoro actually nearly died when they first met?  
He crouched down by the man. "Oi, Zoro…" The man didn't respond.  
"Zoro? Marimo!" He poked at him and as the seconds ticked by and snoring increased, Sanji was getting irritated. He really did sleep like a rock, why was he even asleep!?

The thought of kicking the marimo popped into his head, maybe it was the only way to actually wake the heavy sleeper, so, he stood up and raised his leg. The marimo had forced him to do this, this wasn't his fault.  
He brought his leg down, raising an eyebrow as Zoro dodged it.  
"The hell are you doing curly brows?!" Zoro looked at the hole in the deck, right where his chest had been.  
"Restarting your heart, you weren't waking up so I thought you were dead."  
"Don't say that with a calm look! I would have died from that kick!"  
Sanji frowned, this wasn't what he was here for, he didn't want an argument. He wanted to know if…know if that had been real…  
"Take off your shirt…"  
Zoro glared at Sanji. What had gotten into the blonde. He'd do something 'Sanji' like then do something 'new Sanji' like. This was certainly a 'new sanji' thing.  
"I have a scar if you're wondering that."  
"How?"  
"I mentioned before that I lost a fight at the Baratie when we all first met you."  
"No, I mean, how? How could you do that? You were prepared to die…"  
Zoro realised then that Sanji had recalled that event a lot more than he had told it.  
"It's in the past Sanji."  
"But…" Sanji wanted to continued but Zoro stopped him with a stern look.  
"I'm alive." He stared right into the blondes eyes. "That's all that matters."

Sanji shut his opened mouth and sighed. He turned and walked away from the other man who felt quite puzzled by the whole event. The blonde had acted completely weird and…almost hurt by the memory.  
In Sanji's mind, his dream and the image of Zoro ran though it like a movie. Zoro had been so prepared to die yet had he not thought about the feeling of others, the ones he would have left and abandoned…?  
If Zoro had died then, Sanji wouldn't have gotten to know the green haired swordsman, they would have been together as much as they were now and this thought hurt Sanji. He tried to imagine a world with out Zoro but it was impossible, especially when everything in his mind was of the man.

Zoro hesitated to see the blonde at all for the rest of the day, but he wanted to talk to him again so instead he would walk past the kitchen and glance through the window before running off. Each of those times, Sanji was either cooking or cleaning, or counting inventory each time.  
So as Zoro was just about to glance another time and run away, he stopped and stared instead. There was Sanji, doing something different. He was sitting at the counter looking at some photos. Photos? Oh that's right, Sanji mentioned something about photos, and Zoro was curious about it. He titled his head slightly and pressed his face onto the glass, hoping that his position was enough to see a glance of the photo.

"Swordsman-san, what are you doing?"  
Zoro jumped back immediately, his expression of terror as he tried to calm himself down and play it cool.  
"I was checking if Shitty cook was in there so I could sneak some sake."  
"Oh?" Robin looked through the window. "He's in plain sight. Although, if you asked I think cook-san would give it anyway."  
Zoro tsked. "I'll just get some later."  
"Oh yes, you have watch tonight don't you Swordsman-san"  
Zoro nodded walking away from the archaeologist.

Zoro waited in his seat at the table as everyone piled out of the room and the plates were collected by Sanji for the sink so he could wash it up. The swordsman stood up and walked over, grabbing a towel as he did.  
"I'll help you dry the dishes."  
Sanji looked at him and smiled. "Thank you."  
"No problem. Cook, is it alright if I can have some snacks tonight since I'm on watch duty?"

"You've got watch tonight?" Sanji asked Zoro as he washed the plates from dinner, handing one to Zoro each time.  
Zoro grabbed the plate and dried it. "Yes, so could I have some snacks?"  
"Sure, what would you like?" Sanji asked once more, passing him another plate.  
"Some onigiri"  
Sanji nodded, making a mental note for the request.  
"Anything else?"  
Zoro remained silent, contemplating his answer, of course there was something else.  
"No"  
He noticed Sanji nodding in the corner of his eye.

The plates were all washed and dried, and Zoro had left Sanji alone and in the comfort of his kitchen. He smoothed out the table cloth, getting rid of any winkles before inspecting the kitchen side. Everything was clean and spotless, it's a shame he now had to mess it up again. Sanji took out some rice and poured it into a pan, washing it three times in cold water, before measuring the correct amount. He placed it on the stove and left it to cook whilst he prepared varies fillings.

Sanji finished the last onigiri and placed it on a plate with the rest of them. He lifted up the plate and begun to walk out of the kitchen but paused in his steps, he scuttled backwards and quickly grabbed something before rushing out the kitchen as if making up for the lost time for having forgotten something. The blonde man climbed up to the watch tower and knocked before entering, smiling at Zoro as he held the plate and bottle of sake.

The green haired man placed down his weights and grinned at the other, his eyes travelling to the item in the blondes hand, his grin spreading even wider. He hadn't even asked for it but the blonde had brought it anyway, it made his chest flutter to know the blonde had been thinking about him.  
Sanji made his way over to Zoro and placed down the items.

"Thanks cook" The grin stayed on Zoro's face as he picked up the bottle of sake. He looked back to the cook and smirked, "I see you forgot to take off your apron."  
Sanji quickly looked down and raised his eyebrow. He had been wearing it all day that he must of actually forgot about it.  
"I was just going to give you your snacks and go back to the kitchen, I'm not done cleaning yet. Enjoy your meal, stupid marimo."  
Sanji turned to walk away but Zoro spoke, stopping him from going further.  
"Why don't you stay for a bit. A drinking partner's always nice to have."  
The cook stayed still for a moment, considering why the green haired man had offered him to stay, Zoro enjoyed his company? His heart fluttered…No no…he thought back to the bottle of sake, it must be because of that.  
He turned slowly, just enough to glance at the other.  
"If you get drunk, I refuse to help you" Sanji glared.  
"Oh you don't have to worry about that." Mentally adding in his mind that it would probably be his job if Sanji drank too much.  
Never the less, he vanquished the thought from his mind and opened the bottle in his hands, taking a sip before passing it to Sanji who hesitated about being Zoro's drinking partner but in the end he grabbed it and took a sip as well whilst sitting down beside him.

Not forgetting the food, Zoro grabbed an onigiri as Sanji drank some more. Sanji held the bottle to his closed lips, letting the sake rest on his lips, giving the impression he was drinking whilst he watched Zoro in the corner of his eye. He wanted to watch the mans expression without the other knowing that he was.  
Zoro took a bite of an onigiri, and to his surprise, he tasted a filling inside it. He watched with amusement as each time Zoro ate one, he realised there was different filling. The look upon the green haired man's face was almost adorable and childlike, and it made him want to laugh, he was trying to hold the laughter in whilst he "drank" but suddenly his mouth opened in silent laughter, letting the drink gush into his mouth. Sanji quickly took the bottle away from him, coughing.

Zoro burst into laughter at the blonde's stupidness his laughter dying down as he noticed how the blonde was soaked…  
"che, wasting the sake I see…never took you as a klutz…" Zoro mumbled almost in disappointment but at the same time, why was the sight of Sanji soaked choking him. Was it getting hot?  
"Shut it Marimo…" Sanji hissed, wiping it all away with his apron, he was blushing furiously from embarrassment. Zoro did as Sanji said, biting at another onigiri as he looked away.  
"Shit…I'm all sticky now…" Sanji whined quietly.  
Zoro choked on his mouthful, coughing it out.  
"What's wrong?"

"N-nothing…" Zoro quickly changed the conversation, "Oi cook, this morning you said something about photos?" Zoro asked remembering the early hours of the morning and having seen Sanji looking at them earlier to day and it had him curious.  
"Ah!" Sanji shouted and panicked as he reached into his apron, pulling out a familiar book. The blonde sighed in relief to see the book had not been destroyed by the drink.

"This book that you said is mine, it had some photos in it. I thought you knew since you knew about the book as well."  
Zoro shook his head but didn't say anything, so Sanji questioned it.  
"So, how did you know I had this book?"  
"I saw you scribbling in it a couple of times. Is there any pictures of the crew?"  
Sanji nodded, handing the book over to Zoro "Here have a look."  
Zoro took the book gently, being ever so careful as he opened it to see the pictures at the front, all of Sanji at different ages.  
"Heh, so thats how you looked as a kid…" He was staring at the image of Sanji with the blonde haired man.  
Sanji answered back to Zoro as he took off his apron. "I assume he's Zeff and yes, I think that's me"  
"You think? It is you dumb ass, the curly eyebrows give it away."  
Sanji pushed at Zoro's head in a playful manner as the other laughed. Holding the picture up and he grinned at it.  
"Look at how tiny you were! You look like a bloody girl!"  
"I did not!" Sanji shouted at Zoro, lifting his foot to poke at Zoro's head who continued to laugh.

After a few hours of laughing and talking, Robin strolled in to the sight of the two poking at each other whilst reading a book.  
"This is kinda like a diary shit cook…" Zoro poked Sanji in the arm.  
"So? I'm happy I made something like this" Sanji poked Zoro in the head.

"Only girls keep diaries" Zoro poked him with two fingers, adding to the power.  
"Mines a journal with a couple of notes on my day and recipes." Sanji poked him with three in the side of his head.

Robin coughed lightly and the two looked up quickly to the woman.  
"Sorry, am I interrupting?"  
"N-not at all!" Sanji quickly said standing up abruptly. "Do you want something to eat? Drink?"  
"No thank you chef-san, you should rest, you too swordsman-san, I shall start my night watch now."  
"Are you sure Robin?" Sanji asked once more as Zoro stood up, nodding to Robin as an acceptance that she was taking over for him.  
"Yes I am sure, Cook-san. Thank you both for your hard work." She smiled at them as they left and continued to smile. It was nice that swordsman-san and cook-san was getting on well, rather well actually and Robin had to say, she was almost definitely certain that there was something going on between the pair.

* * *

**.**


	7. Cute Couple

**Disclaimer: I don't own One Piece or any of the characters.**

**Warning: Rushness; Grammar; OOCness; Yaoi; Lemon; swearing; repetitiveness (I'm a repetitive person) and anything you notice that isn't on this list but is on this list. I will also not take responsibility for any problems the readers have experienced. Eg. Puking rainbows. **

**Thank you to everyone who is following this story and has favourited it. :)**

**Word count: 2,800 (Give or take)  
**  
I wrote a chapter, then decided to change the point of where that chapter would be and so I made this chapter. xD  
Btw, I don't know anymore D:  
******I really don't know xD**

Also I want to thank everyone who has favourited and is following this story, you guys are absolutely amazing and those who have stuck with this story so far. Thank you!

**IMPORTANT! Reply to Reviews:****AttlasXAudra**: Thanks for the review :)

I know. It is meant to be the Thousand Sunny 'cause I actually remember looking at loads of drawings and sketches of the Thousand Sunny's layout as research. I probably made a few mistakes in there and said the going merry -.-. I'll check and correct it…(ah,only in the first two chapters), it was probably because I restarted watching the anime again for the Sanji's past bit (re-read the manga too-for research/reminding) and going merry was there.  
I did a lot of research (also why I disappear) so I could try and create a plot, reminds me I need to look at water 7 again for research…I mean um…whoops! ^^

**Chapter 7: Cute couple**

* * *

Sanji awoke in the men's quarters for the first time since having had his memories taken away by, what Sanji could say was, a bitch. Yes, he wasn't going to be kind about that ghost, as far as he was concerned she had taken his memories and he hated her for that even if she did save his life, but still saving his life shouldn't be an excuse to take something away from someone.

Although, so far it wasn't as terrible as one would imagine, instead it was actually okay…after he had gotten over the confusion and fear that is, and that was mainly because of his nakama.

He sighed as he continued to stay curled up beneath his blankets, he didn't want to move yet, he was still tired, he didn't get enough sleep since he had stayed up late with Zoro, but it had been fun, so it had been worth it. Yup, definitely worth it. He smiled to himself as he thought back to the previous night of them looking at his pictures together.  
"…Gomu gomu…"  
"…you…wouldn't dare…"  
"…Stu…pid…"

He raised an eyebrow at the mumbling of his nakama, they were still asleep and yet they managed to argue and talk to each other in their sleep, it was quite amazing actually, but still weird.  
Despite that though, the men's quarters was different compared to the kitchen, it was a lot warmer, which was good, but it also had a lot more noise that filled the room, mainly consisting of snores and them talking in their sleep, but it was nice so he wouldn't choose the kitchen over this.

The sleepy cook twisted himself beneath his warm blanket contemplating on getting out of bed, maybe he should have a quick bath and then prepare breakfast for everyone. Blonde strands slowly popped out from beneath the blankets until his entire head and face hit the cold air in the room. His eyes immediately landed on Zoro, he was still sound asleep in a deep sleep just across from him. He watched a little longer before he urged himself to toss off his blanket; he shivered, the warmth he had been enveloped in faded away.

He made his bed, plumped the pillow ready for tonight and straightened out the creases in the blanket. He walked over to the closets, staring at each one; for a few moments he wondered which one could be his, that was until he noticed a green face drawn roughly on one of them, it had a familiar hairstyle of a side fringe, a cigarette and a curly eyebrow. It was him.

He quietly laughed at the drawing and he knew straight away who the culprit was, it had been Zoro's doing, he had done it in green pen as if saying "Cook this is your locker. Marimo."  
He looked at said person and smiled, he didn't have a lot of memories of the green haired man but since all this started he has been there right beside him, helping him. Sanji had to say that Zoro was thoughtful and caring and he was happy that Zoro was his Nakama.

He gently opened the locker and took out some new clothes. A pair of trousers, an orange shirt and a black vest. He glanced at a special hanger filled with ties and quickly grabbed another as well as a pair of boxers.  
He took one last glance at everyone in the room before he stepped out and into the cold morning air, colder than it was when he first got out of his bed. He breathed it in deeply, his eyes focused on the sunrise. It was beautiful.

—

"Thank you for the food!"  
"Thank you for the meal Cook-san"  
"Lovely as always Sanji-Kun"  
"Sanji! I'm still hungry!"

Sanji glared at Luffy tiredly. He had been saying that all through breakfast and he had just kept refilling his plates for him to the point he would need to get some more supplies for them and maybe think about how much he really should feed the captain…maybe restrain him a little at least…

He grabbed Luffy without a word and threw him out of the kitchen by his collar like he had been a cat. Sanji quickly turned to Nami and stopped her before she could leave with Robin.  
"_Oh sweet_ _Nami_…" Sanji began with what he had to say was a compliment, he had heard from Ussop that she dealt with the berī but she was rather uptight about it and that his best bet was to be kind to her, really kind.  
Nami raised an eyebrow at Sanji, as if telling him to get on with it.  
"Is it possible if I could…" Sanji mumbled lightly, feeling very awkward to ask Nami for some money.  
"For?"

Sanji gulped, her voice was stern like it wouldn't be budged if he said the wrong thing. "Luffy ate…"  
"Of course Sanji kun, I'm actually surprised it lasted this long, we originally needed to stock up on supplies" Nami handed him a bag of berī and smiled.  
He nodded, taking the bag gratefully.  
"Thank you Nami, I'll make sure I get the best there is."  
"Of course Sanji-kun"  
Sanji bowed ever so slightly as he edged his way out of the door, he let a sigh of relief that that had gone well.

"Where you going cook?"  
Sanji looked up and saw Zoro looking down at him in a crouching position.  
Sanji tapped his fingers on the side and smiled, "I'm just going to buy a few things in town."  
"Want me to come along?" Zoro offered Sanji, glancing towards the town himself.  
"No it's fine, I can handle it myself."  
"You sure?"  
"I don't plan on buying too much so I'll be fine."  
"Hmph, alright then shitty cook, have fun."

Sanji jumped from the ship and down on to the land below, he glanced back up to Zoro who was still watching him, and waved earning a wave back from Zoro.  
He grinned, turning around and heading towards the town, not paying attention to the fact he was being followed.

The town was buzzing with people walking in both directions, occasionally stopping to look around and some going in and out of buildings in a steady flow. Sanji waved his way through the crowd, dodging them all as he went from stall to stall and shop to shop, each time coming out with a bag and soon he was carrying a lot.  
"Thank you!" Sanji sang happily, taking his most recent bag from one of the salesmen. He laughed to himself, in the end he had lied to Zoro and brought more than he anticipated, but that was only because the town was so generous with their prices that he couldn't help but buy a lot of things to the point he was struggling with the bags, and the best part was that he still had a lot of berī left.

"Oh well, look wot we got 'ere," Sanji suddenly stopped, his path having been cut off by someone who had decided just to step in front of him.  
"If it isn't the little pretty blonde from the other day."  
Sanji frowned his eyes looking over the mans face, it was that bastard that had said he was going to help him but had tricked him instead.  
"We've been looking for you…"

"You really didn't have to…" Sanji mumbled dejectedly, he jumped backwards, dodging an attack that had suddenly come at him from his side. Sanji didn't feel so confident with his fighting skills, he hadn't actually tried to fight but at least he knew he was fast with great flexibility and that would be a huge advantage.  
He continued to jump backwards to gain a distance from them so he could dump the shopping to the side by a stall.

"Could you watch this for me?" He asked the woman at the stall, she looked absolutely terrified by what was happening but nodded anyway. He smiled at her and jumped away from her so she wouldn't be targeted.  
"I don't want to fight…" Sanji shouted to them, continuing to avoid their attacks.  
He wondered, would talking really stop this situation? He doubted it but at the moment he had to hope it would or he would have to gain confidence and try to fight…he had to be good right? Even Ussop said he was a fighter…

He jumped in the air and landed down on one of the enemies faces, kicking himself off from him and on to another. He repeatedly jumped from face to face like they had been stepping stones, each one was knocked down to the ground with footprints on their faces. Sadly, it wasn't enough and they were slowly getting back up, their eyes filled with determination to kill the blonde.  
Sanji smirked, he could feel his heart bumping fast and the adrenaline flowing in his veins, it was such a great feeling and before he knew it, his body was moving on it's own and he was fighting them with just his kicks. He ran to them and flipped himself up and into the middle of them, landing on his hands and spinning himself, his legs kicking them all in one full sweep, he pushed himself up and flipped once more and out of their reach.

He stood up and smirked at the bodies around him, no longer worried about fighting, this was as easy as cooking, actually it was just like cooking and right at front of him was some ingredients he needed to chop.  
They ran to him once more, another attempt to attack him full on, so he jumped up in the air, lifting one of his legs so he could be ready to bring it down on one of them. He kicked downwards, aiming for one but found himself getting higher and higher into the air.  
"I'm flying?!" Sanji shouted in astonishment as he looked down at them all. Right now he was floating and he had no idea what the hell was going on. He braced himself as they threw daggers at him. None hit him directly but had sliced his suit and had given him a few cuts.  
"Fuckers!" He hissed, he lifted his leg, planning to land a kick on them when he fell back down but his leg lit up on fire upon his anger.

Sanji's eyes widened in shock as his leg lit up. The flying daggers had also halted and he had all the pirates staring at him in shock, wondering if the man was committing suicide until they heard his scream.  
"I'm on fire!" Sanji kicked his leg downwards repeatedly trying to get rid of the fire.  
"Holy shit! I'm on shitting fire!" He didn't pay attention to the fire bolts he was pelting down to his enemies below him, ignoring the screams and shouts Sanji continued to panic.  
Just what the fuck was going on?! Had those fuckers thrown fire at him?!

He continued to kick until the fire died down but just as it died down, he began to fall backwards and down from the sky.  
"Eh? Eh?" Sanji looked around in confusion. No way…was he really falling?! He wasn't prepared to land, how did he get up here again? Could he do it again?  
He closed his eyes, it was too late, he began to prepare himself mentally for the impact he was going to experience.  
'_Zoro!' _He screamed in his mind, the green haired man's face flashed in his mind as he called for him.  
"Cook!"

Sanji opened his eyes at the shout, to see Zoro jumping at him, his arms wide open to catch him. Sanji was surprised to see the other just as he had thought of him, was the man telepathic or something?  
Zoro caught him and held him tightly in his embrace, protecting Sanji from the impact as they landed to the ground. Zoro took the brunt of the impact whilst he cushioned the other in his embrace.

"Fuck! You idiot!" Zoro shouted at Sanji, releasing him. Zoro could feel the pain in his back but this was nothing compared to many worse things he's experienced before.  
"Moron! I didn't ask for your help!" Sanji shouted back, lifting himself from Zoro.  
"You were falling from the sky helplessly! What were you trying to do?!" Zoro growled at him.  
"I was trying to fight against those fuckers to protect myself!"

"Don't ignore us you bastards!" The pirates shouted, getting up from the ground and extinguishing any left over fire before running at the fighting duo.  
"Shut up!" Zoro and Sanji shouted, slicing and kicking them away.

"What I saw was the opposite of protecting yourself, stupid!" Zoro sheathed his swords and suddenly put his hand behind Sanji's head and pulled him towards him and into a hug, silencing any other shout from Sanji.  
He spoke softly to the blonde.  
"I thought…you were going to die, especially when you looked like you didn't know what you were doing…"

Sanji had felt himself calm down, the adrenaline no longer there. He couldn't let Zoro see the expression he had right now, he was sure his face was bright red from Zoro's actions.  
"How did you know I was in the middle of that?" Sanji asked, slightly raising his arms to loosely grip at Zoro's clothes.  
Zoro's hand stayed on Sanji's head, continuing to hug him as he looked shyly to one side.  
"I followed you from the ship…and then I lost you…and then I saw you in the sky…"

Sanji nodded, accepting that as an explanation. "Let's get the shopping and go back to the ship"  
"Sure" Zoro let go of Sanji, neither one looking at the other's face as they both tried to hide their embarrassment.  
"Thank you" Sanji said to the girl at the stall who blushed, having just watched the display between them.  
"N-no problem…" she stuttered. "You two make a cute couple." She smiled gently at Zoro and Sanji.

"Eh?" Sanji asked blankly.  
"Us? Couple?" Zoro pointed at Sanji and himself somewhat in a state of shock.  
The girl chuckled, turning away and continuing to serve her customers.  
Sanji coughed awkwardly, was the girl right? Did they make a cute couple like she suggested? He felt happy inside by her words.  
"Here take these bags," he handed a few to Zoro, and then a few more, and then another two.

"Oi oi…just how many things did you buy? and why the hell am I carrying it?!"  
He looked at Sanji to see that he was carrying nothing.  
He frowned as Sanji twitched his fingers like he was tapping something.  
"I'll carry this one…" Sanji bent down and picked up the smallest bag that was the last on the ground.  
"You've got to be kidding me…" Zoro mumbled, watching as Sanji began to walk ahead of him.

He should have just let Sanji fall…

* * *

**.**


End file.
